The Hundred Years War
by elvensxadia
Summary: After an assassination attempt on a the chief of the Southern Water tribe, the North and South forms an alliance that eventually results in a united nation. After the Air Nomads are wiped out and the avatar is presumed dead, the United Tribe is nearing victory. But with the emergence of unexpected hope, two siblings and a scarred prince embark on an astonishing journey.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: Welcome to the first chapter in my first fanfiction. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter one

 _Present day -The United Tribe_

The wolf lay placidly under the full moon, snuggling into the white snow. The wind blew fiercely, biting into her

"Katara," Hama whispered. "Bloodbending is a dangerous art. When you use it, you need to fully acknowledge the amount of control you have over that person." Katara let out a sigh; this was, so far, her least favourite part of her training.

Bloodbending scared her, but she was sick of only learning about healing and plant bending. It was valuable to learn, but it bored her. In her culture, women weren't much but healers, and it sickened Katara to her core to not learn the full capacity of her powers. Besides, the duties that came with being tribal princess were awfully dull.

She closed her eyes, and felt the energy that radiated off the blood in the wolf. The life that flowed through its veins filled her like a comforting tea. Warmth, despite the weather reaching sub-zero temperatures, spread throughout her body. The bender raised her hands out in front of her, locking onto the poor wolf's blood. She took a hold on it, and with some struggle, made the wolf awaken from its slumber and then start to convulse. Whimpers sounded through the air, her heart started to break but she blocked out the wolf's desperate cries for help and continued.

Hama laughed, "Katara! You did it!" But that didn't take her out of her trance. She started to curl her fist, the whimpers getting louder. She was killing the wolf without realizing what she was doing, but the power she felt filled an emptiness that she didn't know was there. It wasn't until a ball of snow hit Katara in the face that she suddenly let the wolf go.

"What are you doing?" she shouted angrily, hearing the wolf scurry deeper into the forest. The old woman turned her nose up at her pupil's outrage.

"This is your first lesson," says Hama. "Besides, you're not a killer."

 _I have to be,_ Katara thought angrily.

The two benders walked back in silence, Katara visibly seething in anger. How could Hama stop her? She finally had gotten the form perfect, and her concentration was impeccable. Peering over at Hama through the corner of her eye, she saw that the woman's face was unfazed, which only caused her anger to grow. Crossing her arms, she walked further ahead of the old woman.

The palace came into Katara's view. With a huff, she plastered a fake grin on her face.

"My darling," Hakoda, her father and the chief of the Southern division of the United Tribe, smiled as he saw his daughter walk in through the giant doors. "How was your healing lesson? I still don't know why you need to practice late at night. A princess shouldn't be out so late."

"Sokka and Taza are always out late at night," Katara said smugly. She regularly challenged her father like this, always questioned him whenever he would impose a rule the men of the tribe didn't have to follow.

Hama placed a hand on Katara's shoulder. "She did amazing, Hakoda. You know her powers are stronger under the moon." The young bender let out a soft scoff, and her teacher tightened her grip on her shoulder. An icy feeling grew on the shoulder with Hama's hand on it.

Hakoda grinned and laid a kiss on Katara's cheek. "That's great," he said before walking away from them.

With her father out of sight, Katara broke free of Hama's grip, trying to keep her composure but sometimes her teacher frustrated her. "You need to stop challenging your father like that," Hama muttered under her breath. She didn't respond, only crossed her arms over her chest.

"I'm going to my room," the young bender hissed, like a pouty twelve-year-old.

She pounded her feet up the steps to the second floor. She wasn't normally like this after bending practice, but tonight she had felt different. She faintly remembered the intoxicating feeling of the wolf's blood under her grip and realized it could have been because of that. She had bended blood before, but not like that. Nothing that big, at least.

Distant laughter came into her ears as she rounded the corner to the hallway. She tip-toed around the wall and saw a woman placing a gentle kiss on Sokka. His hands were tangled in her white hair and his face was crinkled because of his smile. Katara had never seen her brother smile like that.

Yue, the white-haired girl, chuckled at something Sokka said in whisper. Katara didn't want to interrupt his brother and his love but she almost tripped over her own foot as she tried to hide behind the wall. Regaining her balance, she looked up at the couple who was now silent. Yue had pulled away from him and stood awkwardly beside him. Sokka gave his clumsy sister an annoyed glare as Katara started to approach the door to her room.

"Princess," she muttered. Yue's sapphire eyes widened at Katara's casual greeting before she bowed to the bender. Yue was the princess in the Northern division of the United Tribe. Chief Arnook, her father, and her had come down to talk about the latest developments of the war.

"Yue," Sokka softly said, before he placed a hand on the girl's back. Katara gave her a subtle nod before the girl moved away from his touch and made her way down the hallway. She kept her head down as she passed fellow princess and walked down the stairs. When she looked up at her brother, he had a look of disbelief on his face.

They weren't close nowadays, but they had been years ago. After Katara learned about her bending, he started to cling mostly to Taza, their older brother. It saddened her to see that the only family she had left shunned her ever since she learned about her abilities.

Sokka opened the door to his bedchamber and slipped inside, and Katara, hesitating at first, did the same. Once she closed the door behind her, she shed her parka and the seal skin snow boots. Grabbing the matchbox off her desk, she lit one for the lamp next to her lamp and threw another into the fireplace in the far left of her room.

A giant glass window took up the whole wall on the opposite side of her room. It gave her a view of the city. Huts made of ice and snow stood facing her room. Fire burned bright from the small windows in the ice. It had been late in the night when her and Hama had returned to the palace, so she wasn't surprised when the torches around the tribe had begun to dim. Soon it was just the light from the moon cascading over the tribe.

Buildings in varied heights laid close together in an organized line. In the middle, there was an opening that led deeper into town where the shops, restaurants and a marketplace were. Beyond that, maybe a couple miles, was where large mounds of snow were formed into igloos.

Staring at the window, not really 'seeing', her mind began to wander. Mostly about her lessons and what she needed to improve. She wasn't too familiar with bloodbending since today was only her fifth lesson but it had come to her naturally for some reason. The basics were easy, but in between the full moons she had to learn about the veins and arteries of the body. Bloodbending had spidery and jerky movements, since you had to be quick when it comes to blood. It was almost the complete opposite of waterbending in every way. Waterbending was redirecting the energy, but bloodbending was control and using your opponent against themselves.

Her fingers had trailed softly down the skin of her throat and, without thinking, she started to play with the cool gem of the betrothal necklace. She jerked her hand away like she had been burned and then her face sunk. She had almost went a full day without thinking about it, but now everything came rushing back to her.

The man, Yao, gave her the necklace that now laid still against her throat was a highly-esteemed soldier in the Southern Navy. He was dashing and charming in every way but she had heard what the maidservants said about him. He was particularly well known amongst the brothels.

She remembered asking Hama during one of their lessons, "Why did you never get married?"

The old teacher, at first confused by the question, sighed and placed her hands over her heart. "My dear," she spoke. "When you live in a male-dominated society, you will never be a true equal to your partner. He will see you as his arm candy, as his housekeeper and his baby maker, and I am not any of that." Hama bent a stream of water and started to pass it between her and Katara. "Why do you ark?"

Katara hesitated. She was only eleven when her father told her of the engagement, she wasn't sure of what _marriage_ was at that age. "I'm engaged," she breathed out. She recalled the old woman's had been unreadable except for her jaw becoming tense and her eye twitching. The rest of the lesson they had spent in silence and Hama never brought up Katara's engagement again.

Katara let out a sigh in the warm room. She flopped down onto her bed, exhaustion taking over her body. She closed her eyes, and was fast asleep before other thoughts could take over.

* * *

The sunlight streamed through the window of her room, waking Katara. She blinked and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She contemplated staying in the warm bed all day, but quickly dissolved the thought and sprung up from the blanket. She quickly dressed in the navy blue robe near her bed. She walked down the black marble steps to the first floor and scurried hurriedly to the kitchen. Swinging the doors open, a servant boy handed her the usual caffeinated green tea with a splash of honey. A wide smile grew on her slender face as she stood up to kiss the boy on the cheek to show her gratitude. She exited the kitchen, humming a low tune and with a spring in her step as she inhaled the heavenly scent of the tea.

Yawning and blowing air into the scalding tea, she found her betrothed and her father talking in hushed, but excited whispers. She walked over curiously and tapped Hakoda on the shoulder.

Yao, her fiancé, broke into a smile and kissed her on the cheek, and she had to suppress the urge to slap him in the face. "What's going on?" she asked with a forced smile as she wiped his saliva awkwardly from her cheek.

Her father gently gripped her forearm and said, "Darling, we have good and bad news." He turned his head to Yao; the twenty-seven-year-old was as giddy as he could be. She tried hiding the annoyance by blowing a cooling breath to the hot liquid but she wasn't completely successful. "Bad news, Yao and Taza are setting sail for Omashu after a group of rebels had bombed a train of supplies for the troops."

Katara flicked her eyes briefly to meet Yao's cobalt hungry ones. _I_ _swear to La and Tui, I will bloodbend this creep to his knees if he doesn't stop looking at me like a fruit tart,_ she thought. "The good news is that your wedding will be tomorrow, before the mission."

 _No._ The mug dropped to the ground breaking into a million pieces and the scalding liquid burning her bare feet. "Katara?" Yao said with a tone of concern, peering down to her feet with a shocked look on his face. She didn't answer though. Her chest tightened and her breath quickened. Staring in disbelief at her father, she realized her worst day had come, far too early.

She jumped in pain once she realized her feet were burned. Hakoda had ushered over a nearby servant to quickly clean up the liquid from the princess's feet. She tried to slow her breath but couldn't. She had avoided this since she was eleven, but now it all came crashing down on to her. "That's amazing!" she lied.

Their faces were enveloped in smiles. "Meng said she wanted you to try on your mother's dress. She thinks you would fit beautifully in it," Hakoda said, spinning her around and pushed her into a guard. The man caught her by her forearms but not before almost tripping himself. "Take her to the dressing room," Hakoda instructed. The guard nodded in agreement before placing a firm hand in between her shoulder blades.

* * *

"Oh Katara!" Meng exclaimed. The little girl, maybe two years younger than Katara smoothed out the front of the white dress. "You're beautiful!" she said, taking a few steps back with a dreamy look in her eyes.

Katara remained expressionless. "You've said that already." It had been hours later since she arrived. They didn't get to trying on the dress until after Meng talked Katara's ear off. "I think I dull and boring," she said. Meng lost her smile, her childlike enthusiasm for Katara's wedding was lost in silence.

"I take it you're not excited to be married off to Yao. He seems wonderful!" Katara almost laughed at that, she had to place a hand over her mouth to keep herself from telling Meng all the horrible things she had heard about her.

"Maybe," she responded. Even if tomorrow would start the rest of her miserable life, she felt happy to be in her mother's wedding gown. It was a traditional gown that hugged the curves of her body and then flared out at the hips. A thin layer of lace covered the silk fabric of the gown. Her mocha shoulders were uncovered but her arms were covered by a sleeve that held on to the dress by a thin piece of fabric. Pearly moonstones were sewed into the waist and sleeves of the dress. Katara ran a hand down the front of the gown and tried to picture her mother wearing it, but sadly, she had forgotten her face.

Something glinted in the corner of her eye. Looking down at the girl with the dreamy look still in her eyes, she held out her betrothal necklace, the one Yao carved out for her. And again, she had thought about what her mother's necklace must've looked like. Was hers just as blue as Katara's? Katara couldn't remember what it looked like either.

Tears started to sting her eyes. She jerked the necklace out of Meng's hands, regretting being so harsh with her, and held it up to her neck. She couldn't clasp it underneath the curly mess of hair that fell to the middle of her back.

The little girl stood on a stool that sat behind Katara, and she wrapped the wiry hair in her hands and lifted it away from her neck. Katara clasped the necklace in place. The cool gemstone felt foreign on her skin. And she didn't notice it at first, but she began to cry. Meng looked over the princess's shoulder.

"Miss?" she questioned. Katara peered over to Meng who still had the curly mess wrapped tightly in her fingers. She tried faking a smile to make it seem like she was crying tears of happiness. But the smile fell just as soon as it had formed onto her face.

"Can I give you advice, Meng?" The little girl nodded. With hesitance in her voice, she looked at the innocent girl, who was short without standing on the stool. "Don't ever get married."

* * *

The wedding was short and sweet, at least it was for the guests. They had followed all of the traditions of the tribe, except when Yao kissed her. Cheers and whistles sounded through the night as she struggled to break free from his grip. He left her mouth wet. It was disgusting. During the reception, as she sat with her new husband trying to be composed but she couldn't handle it anymore. The beautiful dress started feeling itchy against her skin and weighed heavily on her body. The bun on her head starting giving her a headache and she had to restrain herself from wringing her hair loose from the tight hairstyle. Eventually, she had enough of the night and snuck out onto Sokka's canoe.

Grabbing a parka discreetly from the coat check room, she ran as fast as the miserable dress would allow her, repeatedly looking back to make sure she wasn't followed. She found the canoe docked near a private dock by the palace. She scanned the area for guards. Seeing none, she untied the rope that kept the small boat from drifting off and pushed herself into the frigid night.

This was probably a moronic idea, but she just needed space. She needed the quiet night to let her collect her thoughts. Leaning against the hard metal, she threw her head back to gaze upon the moon in a waxing gibbous

Tears started to fall down her cheeks but she remained silent. She tried imagining her new life but something made her feel like this wouldn't be her impending future. Maybe it was hope that kept herself thinking that she wouldn't have to deal with being the wife of a soldier. But that was a silly idea. This was her life; as tormenting as that sounded.

The night was cold, but the wedding dress and the parka she stole kept her toasty. The boat drifted with the current until glaciers passed into her vision. They were unmoving with the current but pieces of thick ice bumped into her boat. Staring intently into the black sky, she thought, _I could sink this boat._

Fear clenched her chest at that thought but that quickly disappeared. For some reason, she started to actually consider this as an option. She could die with her freedom right here or go back to the palace and live out her life as the wife of Yao. The despicable, womanizing, sexist Yao. She didn't want that. Closing her eyes, she tried convincing herself that she was stupid for thinking about killing herself. What good would come of that? It was for selfish reasons. She would leave behind her family, who might have been distant, but she knew they loved her.

A bump rocked through the boat and her eyes snapped opened to see a glacier that was unlike the ones that surrounded it. This one was almost a perfect circle with a jagged squared bottom. As she studied it, she became transfixed with it. There was something peculiar about this ginormous ice formation. _Oh, La, am I going to do this?,_ she thought as her stomach twisted _._ If she got this right, she could be free. If she got it wrong, she would live her life out as the cowardly princess who tried capsizing her own boat.

She stood up shakily in her brother's boat, her knees almost buckling. She was lost in a trance as she studied the iceberg longer, someone called to her in the iceberg. Was this just nerves? A part of her wanted to bend the water into a current that floated away from the ice but she couldn't. It was like something had frozen her feet to boat. Suddenly, two masculine voices bounced off the surroundings and into her ears. She whipped her head around to see a slightly larger boat turn a corner. A man sat down in the boat paddling through the water while another stood up and appeared to be looking around frantically. Squinting her eyes through the darkness, familiar faces filled her vision and suddenly fear clenched through her chest. Taza and Sokka's boat waded through the water and as soon as they saw their sister standing in Sokka's boat, Sokka had begun to paddle faster. They had followed her. She thought she was sneaky but not enough apparently.

"Katara!" Sokka shouted. "What are you doing?" he screamed as he saw the boat wobble underneath her weight. She almost fell into the frigid water but composed herself.

This was her only chance. She slammed her foot against the floor of the boat, making the water around her ripple and sending a shock down to the depths of the sea, then turned her heel to direct the shock toward the iceberg. The ice crackled for a moment and then a large crack shot through it. A sense of panic made her stomach drop. Her arms flew up and over her head and suddenly regret filled her. As fright filled the brothers as the scene started to unravel before them, they watched as nothing came crashing down from the glacier. Katara's eyes looked through the cracks of her entangled arms and saw that the glacier had remained still. Confusion clouded her eyes as she wondered what had happened. Had she gotten lucky? Was she shock she sent not powerful enough to shatter the glacier?

At the sound of the water sloshing around became louder, she turned around to see Sokka frantically paddling closer to her, but Taza had reached over his shoulder and snatched the paddle from his hands before he was sent into the waters. Sokka screamed her name over and over trying to get her attention but as soon as she teared her eyes away from them, she was lost in that same trance as before. The glacier was mesmerizing and she didn't know why. Why was she so drawn to it?

It was like her body had a mind of its own. Katara's arms rose up in front of her as she started to close her hand into a fist. When she tightened it, the ice started crackling again. The top of the berg most have cracked open because a blue light started to form. At first it was inconsistent but then with a jerk, it shot out. She fell backwards into the boat. Droplets of cold water shot out and prickled at her skin underneath the parka. The cold water ran down her skin and sent shivers down her spine but she had barely noticed them.

The light started to dim like it started crawling back through the hole at the top of the glacier. Everything went quiet and then the iceberg started to _sink_ into the water. Slow and steady at first until it shot straight down into the depths of the water. Like a creature in the water had gripped it tight and pulled the glacier down with it. A violent wave surged toward her boat and it sent her almost into the water. In panic of freezing to death, she bent another wave to raise the boat higher so it didn't topple over.

She bumped into her brothers' boat, sending Sokka and Taza flying backwards. Sokka sat back up and gripped her shoulders as he started to pull her out of his boat and into the canoe he shared with his brother. The water where the iceberg disappeared in began to fizzle as a boy rose to the top of the water.

She turned around to her brothers, their mouths agape, "Paddle!" she ordered, and Taza threw their paddle over to her. She caught it and began to hurriedly paddle through the water towards the floating boy. Throwing the paddle behind her, she dug her hands into the water. She could feel her arms becoming numb as she reached under the boy's torso. Luckily he was light enough for her to lift into the boat but she still had trouble getting him over the edge.

He laid unconscious in her arms and she looking over his features to see if he was native to her tribe. His skin was a dead giveaway. It was alabaster with a tinge of yellow. Tattoos of baby blue arrows lined his limbs and over his forehead. Where had she seen this before?

The brothers paddled over to their sister. "He's a nomad," Sokka said quizzically. "Why is he on United Tribe territory?"

Taza ignored the question and instead reached over to smack his sister against the back of her head. "What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted. "You could have died!"

Sokka pushed him away from their sister and pulled out a jaw-bone knife, holding it up to his brother's throat. "Don't touch her," he hissed as he narrowed his eyes. Katara was left shocked at her brother's sudden defense of her. He abandoned her years ago after their mother died, but he was still protective like he used to. The corners of her lips turned slightly up but she stopped when the boy in her lap coughed.

They all turned their heads to the nomad. Sokka removed the knife from his throat, but not before sending a threatening glare to his brother, and bent over the side of his boat. The boy blinked his eyes, grey irises poked out underneath his lids. "Water," he croaked. Sokka opened his waterskin and Katara bent a steady stream into the boy's mouth. A small dribble falling down the sides of his mouth.

"We need to get back, I can help."

Taza scoffed, running his hand over the spot where the knife once was, "Your husband wants a word with you," he mumbled and Katara's heart sank.

"Yao can wait," she said. Sokka got in her boat and started to paddle as she cradled the boy in her lap.

When they pulled up to the palace, Katara gathered the boy in her arms. Taza came over to help her but she glared him down. "I got it," she muttered and jogged down to the healers' hut where she found Hama. After giving her a nod of greeting, she laid the boy into the salt pool and began to heat the water of the pool.

She closed her eyes, and bent a small blue, casing of water around his body. During the journey back to the palace, he fell unconscious again. She couldn't help but feel worried for him.

Through her bending though, she desperately searched for the damage in his body but she found nothing. She let out a frustrated groan and the casing of blue fell back into the water.

"Why are you even trying to save him?" a masculine, rough voice called out. Opening her eyes, she saw Yao with his hands crossed over his chest standing on the opposite side of the pool, a disapproving look glossed his features. "He's an air nomad, we should let him die."

She could spit in his face but it wouldn't be good enough. Deciding to ignore him, she began to heat the water to a hotter temperature and kept her hands flat above the pool as the started to meld the water back into the blue casing. There had to be something she missed.

"Katara," he said again. "I order you to stop." _Order me?,_ she thought with a mocking mental laugh, _I could squash you like a bug._

She kept her mouth shut, refusing to listen to his incessant orders. Her father and brothers soon arrived behind Yao and watched as Katara closed her eyes and kept her focus on looking for anything that could tell her that the boy was hurt. The second person to scream at her to stop was her father, the third was Taza, then Yao again. Sokka remained quiet, hoping for the boy to survive as well.

"Katara," Hama came in right behind her and whispered in her ear. "Use your blood bending, maybe you could find something that way."

The young woman doubted this would work since it wasn't a full moon. She started swaying her hands and a jerky fashion above the boy's body. She was shocked when the blood in his veins moved with them. A smug smirk enveloped her face. Her family's arguing disturbed her concentration. She let go of the hold on the nomad's blood to see Yao in front of her. He bent down swiftly and wrapped his clammy fingers around her elbow. With a forceful jerk, he brought her roughly to her feet and started yanking her out of the hut.

She was furious and she tried yanking her arm out of his hold. "How dare you touch me?" she shouted at him. He dragged her out of the hut and the fury that burned within clouded her judgement.

Katara broke her arm free, and fell to the snow. It was like something had switched on the princess. A red, hot anger burned in the pit of her stomach. Yao looked at her with wide eyes as she began to focus on the blood that pumped through her husband's legs. And slowly but surely, fear beamed out from his sapphire eyes. She controlled every blood cell, every vein and artery.

Now on his knees, Katara hovered over his body with her hands splayed out in front of her. "You don't control me," she said. She broke the connection between his blood and her bending and walked back into the hut.

* * *

After hours in the hut of exhausting work in the hut, Hama and Katara had carried the boy back to Hama's igloo and wrapped him up in an extra parka by the fireplace. The boy seemed to be perfectly fine. She couldn't find anything except for the occasional cut and scrape. She now sat in front of the fire, a foot away from the boy, now in a blue tunic with a black sash around her waist, thick leggings and fur-lined boots. The wedding dress hung on the rack by the opening to the igloo.

It was surprisingly warm inside, despite it being covered in snow and ice. Hama was brewed jasmine tea over the fire and Katara happily inhaled the sweet scent. The old woman scooped the hot liquid into mugs with a metal ladle, then she started handing them one by one to Katara.

"Your wedding was beautiful," Hama commented as Katara grabbed the mugs from her teacher. She waited for Hama to lay the ladle on the snow before handing the old woman her mug of tea.

"Yes it was," she smiled. And she was being truthful, the wedding venue had been decorated from ceiling to floor with wisteria and lotus flowers, despite them not being native to the cold south. The music was elegant and sweet and the ballroom was filled with people Katara loved the most, but not the person she was in love with.

"Shouldn't you be with Yao?" Hama lifted the mug to her lips, but Katara hadn't touched hers, instead started to bend the liquid into a mini whirlpool with her finger.

"Probably, but I don't want to." A cough escaped the boy's mouth, they both whipped their attention from each other to the nomad in the parka.

The boy with the arrows rubbed his shiny bald head and sat up from the parka he laid in. Katara rushed over to him, setting her cup on the ground. Hovering over him, she felt for his pulse on his neck and started pouring out the questions. "What's your name? Do you know where you are?" she started.

"Give the boy some space!" Hama called out. She ignored the old woman.

"Aang," he said quietly. Hama walked over with Katara's untouched mug of hot tea. Aang took it and held it up to his nostrils and inhaled the sweet steam. "This smells amazing," he commented, taking a sip before setting the ceramic cup in between the fireplace and the parka. Hama smiled thankfully at him.

"What were you doing in the iceberg?" Katara asked in a soothing voice.

"An iceberg?" he asked, confused. Then his eyes widened and shot out from the parka -literally, shot out at least two feet in the air and ran out of the front of the igloo. "Appa!" he called. Hama and Katara shared a confused look before they crawled out after him. She had barely gotten out when a ginormous creature landed right in front of him.

A shriek escaped her mouth and she fell backwards into the snow, landing right on to the old woman's lap. "What is that!" she screamed.

"Calm down!" he shouted back in a giddy voice. "It's my bison." Aang hopped on to the giant Appa, and hugged his snout. "I missed you buddy," he whispered into the soft fur.

The bison came over to where Katara laid, and licked her face. His hot, smelly breath making her want to puke. "Aghh!" she exclaimed.

"He likes you!" he cried. Aang rushed over to Katara and helped the bender up from the snow. "Was I really in an iceberg?" he said, his eyes now sullen.

"Yes," she mumbled. Aang's face sunk.

"Do you know how long?" Aang questioned. Katara shook her head. "Where are we?"

Katara crossed her arms. "Do you really not know?" she scoffed. "You're in the Southern division of the United Tribe."

"United Tribe? I thought this was the Southern Water tribe?" _Oh my La, how long has he been in that iceberg?,_ Katara thought.

"The north and south haven't been separate for a hundred years," she said, a confused tone lacing her words. "How long were you in that iceberg?"

"I don't know," he said, rubbing the back of his head. A stern look crossed his face. "I need to speak to your chief."

Katara was taken aback and when she was about to protest, Hama pulled her to the side. "My dear, I would be careful, that boy is protected by a powerful spirit." Hama had an unsure look on her face, she looked back at the boy, who had returned his attention to the large bison.

And then with tight lip, the old woman said, "I think he might be the avatar."

* * *

 _AN: Huge thanks to my new beta SeraNeko-chan!_

 _AN: A continuation of clearing up understandable confusion wonderful reviewer._

 _1\. Hama is able to brew jasmine tea because of trade from the Earth Kingdom._

 _2\. Flashbacks will most likely to occur in the story to show how Katara knows plantbending. I didn't think, while writing this chapter, that the story behind it would be important. Now I realize, because of your review, that it could actually aid in the development in her character._

 _3\. Gran-Gran won't appear in this fanfiction. It will come to light as to why._

 _4\. Katara's and Sokka's problems will be revealed later in the story. I have gave reference about how they were distant and weren't as close as they are in canon. But to find out why they are like this, you'll have to read further._


	2. Chapter 2

_AN: Huge thanks to my beta SeraNeko-chan! Go check them out._

* * *

Chapter two

It was hot, as it usually was in the Fire Nation. The firebending didn't make it any better. Sweat rolled down his back, the fire licked at his fingertips and at the bottom of his feet. He could feel the sun cook his alabaster skin and he knew he would wake up tomorrow with sunburn. His muscles started screaming at him to stop but he didn't. Zuko ignored the pain and heat and sent fire blast after fire blast into the air.

Iroh noticed, that even though his nephew remained determined to get the basics down, he was beginning to become sluggish and lazy in his movements.

"Prince Zuko!" Uncle yelled, his voice now hoarse from yelling at him so much to fix his stances. "You're getting tired, its time you should take a break."

But the prince shook his head at his uncle's pleas, "No, uncle." He got back in his stance, crouching, low to the ground with his fists in front of him. With a grunt, he lunged forward, a small spray of fire erupted from his fists as he landed on the ground in a huff. In frustration he hit the hard cement with his fist. Panic and the feeling of failure prickled at the sides of his torso as he failed for probably the tenth time that day to get the simple moves down. Something held him back and he couldn't pinpoint what it was.

Iroh came running up to his side, grabbed his shoulders and threw him to the ground. The prince landed on his back. "Nephew!" he shouted at the prince. A searing pain ran up the teen's wrists, the familiar trickling of blood against his skin. He didn't react to the pain at first, but instead examined the wounds on his knuckles. "You could have broken your hand," Iroh mumbled upon seeing the damaged knuckles. With a sigh, the old man helped his nephew to his feet. "Go to the infirmary and get that taken care of. I'll see you at practice tomorrow."

His teacher walked off, hands clutched together in red sleeves. A game of Pai Sho laid out on a small rounded wooden table. Iroh sat down and watched one of the servants move the tiles across the board.

With an exasperated groan, the young man turned around and walked to the infirmary. One of the servants, a young girl, held out a towel for Zuko as he exited the training arena. He passed warrior garb and double Dao swords held up by shelves or nailed to the red walls. Zuko paused in front of the doors where two guards in red uniforms with steel masks had hid their features except for two holes on the eyes that showed the amber and hazel irises. They greeted him with a deep bow before swinging the heavy doors open to let him out. He muttered a thanks and wiped the sweat off his bare chest and neck. His injured hand laid stiffly at his side, blood dripping down from the torn flesh and landing down on to the black, glossy floors.

Zuko made his way down the wide halls of the palace, passing by the paintings of his ancestors, avoiding their absent gaze while he laid the white, fluffy towel around his neck. His gaze was plastered to the floor, watching the pointy shoes move along the floor before he stopped abruptly.

When he turned up to the infirmary, he knocked softly on to the wooden door and entered meekly. The nurse, his favourite nurse, watched as he opened the door and he revealed his injured hand to her. She chuckled, a sweet smile enveloping her angelic face. "Again, my prince?" she asked.

The boy walked in and sat on one of the beds that faced her workstation. "Yeah," he replied. The nurse, Jin, was his favourite person in the palace. Not just because she was beautiful, but also because she was the only one, beside his uncle, who was kind to him. She was his age, eighteen, but already mature beyond her years as far as skill. She was one of the best nurses in the palace. He watched the girl grabbing some disinfectant and tissues. She poured the clear liquid on to the thin white tissues over a shallow metal container.

"Alright," she said, turning back around to face him, "Let's see the damage." She held out her hand, dainty and feminine. He placed his in hers and a small blush crept on both of their cheeks. A groan escaped his lips as she began to lightly touch the skin surrounding the knuckles. She retreated her fingers and then started to move them down his hand, applying even pressure.

Jin wasn't native to the Fire Nation. Her lustrous pale green eyes were evidence to that. Even though her features were resembled most people living in the Fire Nation; slanted yet wide eyes, a somewhat pale skin with a yellow undertone, dark, almost black hair, and chubby cheeks. She had a thin figure, but she wasn't overly thin and there was a healthy golden glow to her skin. The prince towered over her, but then again he towered over a lot of people.

"You're from the Earth Kingdom?" he said, a nervous ball started to form in his stomach as Jin flicked her eyes up from his hand to his eyes.

A small smile spread across her face. "Yes, Ba Sing Se."

"I've never been there. Is it nice?" he said in an awkward manner _._

"Somewhat." She started wrapping gauze over the knuckles. "I take it you haven't been much out of the Fire Nation, have you prince?" The way she said prince, it was laced with a seductive yet innocent tone.

Her olive eyes gazed at him as she gently placed a hand on her slender hip, waiting for his answer. "No, not much. Just Ember Island." Jin nodded, removing her hand from her figure and again reaching for his own. She wrapped the gauze firmly and then sealed it around the injured mess firmly, a small stain of blood poking through the gauze.

"Since I got here I haven't been outside the palace, except to go home of course."

"You don't live here?" he said, his back straightening.

"No," she said, putting another piece of binding around the knuckles to hide the crimson. "I made it clear to Ozai that I was not going to live here."

A note of shock dressed his face. "No one stands up to the Fire Lord like that."

A small laugh escaped her thin lips as she said, "Yeah, well. He is not as scary to me as he is to everyone else." Eyes flicked up to his scar and she lost her smile.

An insecure feeling overtook him as he realized she was referencing him. His shoulders slumped and the air in the room grew tense. Jin's movements were shaky and quick as she realized he caught what she was subtly referencing. But it wasn't like he hid it very well either.

He didn't try and hide the scar that wrapped around his left eye. His raven hair was pulled away from his face in a ponytail when training, and in a topknot during special events. When he was dressed casually, usually an inch of his hair in the front was pulled back in to a small half updo with thick shorter strands of hair outlined his slender, pale face.

"Yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. An awkwardness settled in the room. Jin had turned around and stood on her toes trying to reach a jar of some sort of herbs. She was still too short to reach it, Zuko jumped up from the bed and walked over. He stretched his arm, suddenly very aware of how bad he probably smelled, and grabbed the jar of herbs. He handed them to Jin. "What is that?" he asked, pointing a thin finger to the jar.

She sauntered away, almost in a skip. "It's a special tea Iroh gave me, it's used for pain relief. I figured we could sit and drink it, alleviate the pain in your hand and, I guess, talk for a while."

But before he could answer, someone entered the room. The familiar girl with same golden eyes as the young prince leaning against the wall while holding the door she came through with the top of her foot. "Zuzu," Azula said. "Father needs to see you." She gave the nurse a glare, squinting her eyes in threatening way she did, as Jin placed the jar on the metal table beside the bed was sitting on, a soft clatter sound through the room. She ducked behind Zuko where a small stack of paperwork lay and began to flip through, acting like she was busy.

"Do you know why?" His fists began to clench at his sides and he straightened his back at the mention of his father.

"If I did, I would have said so," she hissed. She kicked the door out further, turning around holding the door with her back, she looked back at her older brother. "Are you coming, Zuzu?"

With slight annoyance at his childhood nickname, Zuko looked back at Jin, wanting to catch her olive eyes one last time, but she was shuffling papers and writing something down. "Yes," he said, closing the door behind them.

As he followed a step behind her, his eyes rested on the back of her head. Azula was shorter than most of the people they knew, but she carried herself with confidence. Azula never tried to make conversation on the way to their father's bedchambers and neither did he. There was underlying tension between the siblings. Whether he liked it or not, it was mostly caused by their parents. Ozai constantly praised Azula as a master of their element and always made his son out to be inferior to her. Ursa, Agni be with her, always made the prince feel secure and loved. Something Azula never got from either of their parents.

Once they got to their father's chamber, Azula reached out for the door handle, swung it open and held it for Zuko. She glared him down causing the confidence he worked up on the way to his father's chambers to falter.

Ozai's chamber was more than extravagant. A bed bigger than he had ever seen stood in the middle of the room. A desk with quill and ink and some light-yellow parchment was positioned in a disorganized mess on the wooden surface next to the window his father was now staring out of. The carpet that lined his room was red and black, the Fire Nation emblem in the middle of it. The Fire Lord headpiece sat on his bed and a crimson robe lay next to it.

Ozai turned to his son when he heard the door open. Zuko had never actually been in his father's chambers. He usually tried to stay away from his father's things as much as he could.

"Son," he said, a suspicious cheery smile spread across his face. He gestured toward a bottle of whiskey. "Would you like some?" Zuko nodded and watched his father pour the liquid into two glasses. He didn't understand why he agreed to have a drink with his father. The prince never liked the taste of alcohol.

An equal amount of the brown liquid, poured a quarter of the way, filled the glasses. He handed his son one of the glasses, clinked them and took a sip of the whiskey. Zuko reluctantly took a sip, a smooth taste of the alcohol flowed down his throat. He tried to mask his disgust as best he could.

"Why am I here?" Zuko asked. He didn't mean to so abrupt with his question, but it slipped out of his mouth.

His father rested the glass on the desk beside him, and slapped a hand on Zuko's shoulder. He jumped, his father wasn't the touchy type. "I have a proposition for you." Ozai sounded happy which was strange, he was never happy. "A flagship of Fire Nation soldiers was on United Tribe waters in the South Pole last night. They reported to have seen a blue light that shot through the sky."

Zuko didn't understand. _Who cares?,_ he thought."The avatar has returned." Ozai picked up the glass again and downed it one gulp before slamming it back on the table.

"Why are you telling me? I'm no soldier."

Ozai laughed, a sinister, out of ordinary laugh. "My son, this is a time for you to prove yourself." He said it bluntly, the words cut through the air like a knife. Since the Agni Kai between them, Zuko knew he wasn't a candidate for the throne anymore. His birthright was stripped from him and was replaced with an ugly scar. "If you want to be Fire Lord, now is the time for you to take this opportunity and prove to me you can be strong, like your sister." He walked back over to his desk, and took the crystal bottle that held the whiskey and poured himself another glass. This time, he filled the glass nearly to the top.

 _How many has he said?,_ Zuko thought with the furrow of his brow. The young fire bender has never seen his father drink alcohol like water, it frightened him. Zuko chocked the rest of the whiskey down his throat, barely even tasting the repulsive flavor. His father gave him a nod, as if to say _that's my boy!_

"What is your proposition then?"

A smile cut through his father's face. He walked over to his son, his face was inches away in a threatening glare. "I want you to retrieve him."

Zuko gently placed his glass down on the table, trying to keep his composure but the fear of his father was apparent in his golden eyes. "There is no avatar, father. Whatever your fleet saw, they were yanking your chain."

"Even if they were, I want you to make sure they were telling the truth." Ozai wasn't a merciful man, Zuko shuddered at the thought of what the Fire Lord would do to those soldiers if he found out they were lying.

"It's not possible father, in this life he would have been a nomad." The prince settled his eyes on anything but the amber, menacing eyes of his father. His eyes flicked to the middle of his father's brow as he spoke. "Last time I checked, the nomads are all dead."

The smile was now slid away from Ozai's face, and his expression returned to his usual hard and angry look. "I have no use for your sarcasm, _son,_ " Ozai hissed. Suddenly, Zuko was back at the arena, he was thirteen with tears streaming down his face as he begged his father to spare his life. Cold sweat formed on his back, his hands were tingling and clammy. He could feel the concrete rubble underneath his bare feet. He was on the verge of bending, scarring his father's face like he had done to him, but he didn't.

He didn't hear exactly what his father said to him that snapped him back to reality, in truth, it was all muffled. Zuko hadn't realized he had dug his nails into his hand until he felt the trickle of blood against the sensitive skin. He met his father's gaze.

"You will do as I say, take leave as soon as possible and capture the avatar." With that, his son was dismissed.

* * *

Zuko typically didn't express his emotions in front of people, preferring to hide them until he reached a private spot. Usually that meant retreating to his room and having his usual fits of panic. Lying a fetal position on his bed as he hyperventilated locked into memory of his father roasting him alive.

The day after Ozai had given him his command, Zuko was once again sparring with his uncle, hoping to get at least once practice in for the long journey into the freezing south.

The spar had started like any other. The prince had most of the basic forms down and his fire was strong and consistent. Iroh was using techniques that Zuko had never been taught before so the prince tried mimicking. He had nearly mastered the physical movement, but failed at breathing fire. He didn't have proper breath control when it came to that and the smoke usually put him into a coughing fit.

The prince was sitting on all fours of the concrete arena, caught in a coughing fit when his father approached him. And he froze, panic slowly building into his chest. The prince's heart was beating rapidly, something he experienced often. He tried to force the panic down but he couldn't and his instincts took over his body. Fire burst out of his feet as he rolled forward, shooting his fist straight out so another stream of fire burst into the air, this one was sparser than his usual blasts of fire but enough energy to elongate out. He was breathing heavily, sitting on the hard floor, the dark red light of the arena illuminating his skin. Fire licked his skin, he could almost feel his epidermis beginning to peel off. The urge to swat at his skin and scream was stuck inside his mind. Instead, he was frozen to the ground, staring at the menacing amber eyes glaring down at his burning body.

Except, he wasn't burning alive. There were no dark red lights, it was sunny, warm and inviting. There were no menacing amber eyes that glared down at him. There was Iroh, the shock and concern that dressed his face.

His uncle had his hands placed over his head with his eyes closed. He opened them slowly to look at his nephew, usually a tall and proud man, now with fear in his eyes and the same look Iroh hasn't seen on his face since he was fifteen. They both stayed in their same positions, Iroh standing straight and expressionless and Zuko sitting down, breathing heavily with his fist still out. And they just stared at each other.

It felt like forever until Iroh reached his hand out for his nephew. He waited patiently for his nephew's shoulders to relax and the fear in his eyes to be lost.

The prince had his shoulders slumped in shame when he stood up. His uncle would have kept fighting if Zuko's golden eyes didn't shine with fright.

"Nephew," the old man said. Iroh was shorter than the young man, but somehow, it felt like Iroh towered over him. Zuko searched his familiar amber eyes for something, anything that would give away the teacher's emotions. But it seemed to be filled with nothing Zuko could interpret. "Go pack."

Iroh turned around after a quick pat on the man's shoulders and walked over to the two female servants who held out a maroon robe for the old man, he slipped it over his shoulders and he walked out but not before looking back. Zuko caught his uncle's eyes, they held the gaze for a moment before Iroh broke it and departed from the arena. The prince did the same and was escorted back to his chambers with his own team of servants busying themselves with packing a suitcase for the royal.

Zuko never got used to this and sometimes he hated it. They showed him shirts, pants and shoes and waited for his approval before putting them into the bag. The women grabbed his arms and brought him to his feet and quickly began to undress him.

He tried keeping his head high and eyes averted from theirs as he stood naked in his chambers with the servants buzzing around him trying to dress him in a casual red tunic, a black and gold robe that was cinched at the waist by a black belt with a holster for a dagger. Loose fitting pants that were cinched by black leather boots that outlined his calves. His hair was kept in the casual style he always had.

On the way to the boat he ran into Iroh and they walked together in silence. The servants behind each of them walked up to the ramp of the metal ship and disappeared below deck, most likely taking each of the bags to their chambers. Iroh led Zuko to where five soldiers stood in front of the flagship by the ramp at attention, each with their helmets on their heads except for one.

Five soldiers. The first was named Tado, a middle-aged man with dark skin. Wide hazel eyes and had the faint appearance of crow's feet. He seemed to be the quiet type as he didn't say much but a greeting to the two men, even his voice was quiet but it was deep. The second was a woman, older than the most of the soldiers there. Her name was Mea and she had thick gray hair that flowed down from the hard, red and black helmet on her head. She stood tall, was more responsive than Tado was but still didn't say much. Even though she was older, the muscles on her body were visible to everyone there. The next soldier seemed to be around the prince's age, her name was Zai, clearly the most inexperienced one there. Even with that, she was almost as muscular as Mea, though her helmet rested underneath her arm. She still stood tall and proud despite everyone glaring at her bare head. Her eyes were a light yet still a warm yellow, burn marks covered her arms. With a little curiosity, Zuko eyed the burns, some looked recent, others were leftover scars.

He might have eyed them too much because she cleared her throat and caught his eyes. A blush crept over his good cheek as his uncle gripped the sleeve of his shoulder and pulled him over to the other two guards.

Another female soldier, looked about same age at Tado but seemed to have similar features as the soldier next to her. Both with the same colored eyes, but the woman, Chee, had a bonier face compared to her baby-faced brother. Aden, the brother, was only a couple years older than Zuko, although Zuko still towered over the man. There was a mix of confidence and a bit of fear as the Dragon of the West and the shamed crown prince eyed him down.

With the formal greetings out of the way, the two fire benders and the soldiers boarded the ship and looked back at the patrons waving and cheering the men and women on. Zuko searched the audience for the familiar olive eyes. When he found them, a face of concern accompanied them but it was laced with a small smile. The prince waved at Jin and she waved back. He never taken her up on the offer of tea and something told him he never would.

The ship grumbled underneath their feet as it took off from the port and sailed to the horizon. Within moments all the patrons on the port were ants to the crew.

* * *

The day was filled with soldiers and the two firebenders trying come up with a sound plan on how they would deal with their mission but no one could agree on anything. They had argued over the faults in their plans until Iroh adjourned the meeting.

But at night, the deck turned into one giant party. Everyone dancing drunkenly and singing off-key to the music being played by the servants on board. Ale was handed out all around the ship and supposedly Aden had snuck it underneath the Fire Lord's nose and hid it in his bunker. Iroh and Tado had broken into a song and Mea, the complete opposite of her earlier self, was the center of laughter, cracking jokes left and right with the servants, crew and soldiers.

Zuko had sat alone, a mug of ale rested on the wooden table in front of him forming a wet ring. He was smiling at the laughter and tension-free environment around him. He wasn't used to this.

A bump shifted the old wooden table, Zuko looked over to see Zai, dressed in only a skin tight red tank top and brown trousers held up by the black belt that held a solid black dagger. She took a swig ale and stared at the prince.

She wasn't drunk yet but had a calm vibe around her. She was tough and prideful, at least he believed her to be. Her body language and eyes gave herself away like that. Zuko turned his full attention to the soldier.

"So," she said, a slight slur to her words, taking another swig of ale. "I saw you staring at the marks on my arms."

The prince shrugged his soldiers. "So?"

Zai sat the mug down away from them and moved his as well. She laid her arms down on the table, with the hands facing toward the floor. She pointed toward a large scar on her shoulder. Pink and wrinkled. "I got this during training, hurt like hell but it was one of my first."

Zuko raised his only eyebrow up at her. "You're a firebender?"

Zai nodded. "The only one besides you and your uncle on the ship. This one," she said, turning her attention back to her arms. This time with her palms facing up to the sky, she pointed to her wrist. The mark, that started at the base of her wrist and lapped to the middle digits of her index and middle finger, was an old one. Dark pink like the one on his face. "was from when I was working for the police force in the Capital. Right before I was promoted to a soldier in the navy. I got it from a man named Jire, he was the head of a dangerous gang, which I forgot the name of it. Anyway, he shot a fire blast and me being an idiot I held up a hand to protect myself."

Zuko nodded back in response and took a swig of his own ale. The bitter liquid made his face turn into a brief scowl. He held up his shirt to reveal his toned stomach. A scar wrapped from his belly button to the middle of his spine. "Training, my uncle got me by accident." She clapped in admiration.

"Go Iroh," she said with a smile, revealing pearly teeth. She pointed at his face, "What about that one?"

She reached her hand out and was heading right for his cheek but he swatted it away. It was a defense mechanism from when the burn was fresh and bloody. Now, he didn't let anyone touch it. "Sorry," he whispered, as she retracted her hand into her lap. She reached out for her mug and shrugged.

"It's fine." She finished the ale and got up from the table. "We all got things we don't talk about."

* * *

 _AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter. You will find out what happens to Katara and Aang next chapter but for right now I thought I would introduce adult Zuko. Our beloved prince clearly has PTSD and I want to show that as raw as I can in later chapters, since the original show didn't show that as much as they could have. I don't want to make the same mistake as Thirteen Reasons Why did and romanticize the seriousness of this disorder, so if you have any suggestions as to how I can avoid that, or if I already have done, tell me how to fix that, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. Next chapter coming soon and I promise, the story will kick off soon. I just want to introduce the characters and get our story set up first._

 _AN: Thank you a million times to the reviewer who left the best review ever! To address your confusion:_

 _1\. Ursa's fate will be reviewed in later chapters._

 _2\. Zuko's crew is majority female because I'm getting tired of seeing a group of soldiers in stories having only one female soldier in there. Times are a-changing and I want more strong female characters, especially with a show that has beautifully written women._

 _3\. The reason the description of the soldiers is long is because I want to incorporate as much of my original characters in to the story as much as possible, and not a single character in ATLA was useless, but I do see your point about the paragraph being too long so I will break it up into smaller bits._

 _4\. The Earth Kingdom and stage of it will be revealed very shortly. Since this is the beginning, I didn't want to rush anything. I want it to resemble the pace of the beloved show, a slow build that is worth every moment._


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: So I deleted the first chapter. Lemme explain. Zuko is one of my favourite characters of all time and I relate to him in a lot of ways. Because of that, changing his canon backstory feels wrong for me. His backstory is what made him who he is. So, because of this, everything that happened to him in the canon backstory is canon in my AU. The only difference is that he wasn't banished from the Fire Nation and he had the Agni Kai at fifteen instead._

 _Aye, thanks to my beta SeraNeko-chan, this chapter doesn't suck anymore._

 _Disclaimer: This story is under revision as I write it, expect major changes done to the chapters over time but I promise I'll work on them better before posting them. I do not own ATLA or any canon characters._

* * *

Chapter three

The next morning, Katara awoke to a blur of white and yellow. A throbbing headache formed around her forehead, neck and around her ears.

Nausea swam in to her stomach when she tried sitting up from the hard, blue mat under her. Hama rushed over with something square and white. When she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and made her lay down, she realized Hama had brought a pillow for her and placed it to so her head sunk into the fluffy mass. Even with the comfort underneath her head, the pain didn't alleviate.

When her vision cleared, she saw Hama's familiar face; deep set wrinkles and light grey irises underneath sunken eyes and crow's feet. A white lock of hair fell around her face as she hovered over her student.

"Are you ok, dear?" the woman said, her voice muffled.

"Mmm."

Bile crawled into the back of her throat. Something glowing and circular formed above Katara, when it surrounded her head, she realized it was water. The pain dissipated, soon she could hear the boiling in the fireplace and Hama breathing above her.

"Better?" she asked in a concerning tone.

"Much better," Katara whispered as she sat up from the mat. A mug of tea was pushed suddenly in her face, she sniffed the steam that billowed out. Hibiscus and ginger tea. "Thank you." She laced her fingers around the warm, ceramic cup.

Taking a sip from the tea in the white mug, she looked over at the woman, now crawling slowly back over to the fire place. There was a giant pot that hung from a rusted metal rack. When she sniffed the air, she smelled fish broth and sea prunes. A smile spread across her face as she took in the familiarity of the scent, she remembered her mother used to make that soup for breakfast often.

The old woman rubbed her hands together as if to brush off some dirt. She put a lid on top of the pot and laid a wooden spoon on the white snow next to it. "Your headache," she began, "is normal when you bloodbend without a full moon, though it will get better with time. I used to get them all the time when I first started practicing it."

Her fingers had gone numb from the cold but the warmth from the mug brought feeling back to them. She flicked her blue eyes up to woman and asked, "When did you start bloodbending?"

Hama sighed. Katara knew the old woman had a troubled past that she didn't like to talk about. She knew it had to do with the war. Even though the United Tribe had an advantage now, it hadn't always been like that. Decades go, when the southern division had been driven to near extinction when the Fire Nation performed raids to drive out all the waterbenders. It didn't work, when the northern division sent troops down to assist the southern warriors during the next raid, they eventually stopped.

Her gray eyes glimmered with the fire. _Was she…crying?_

"I was captured in a raid, when I was your age." Katara's fingers tightened around the ceramic, almost shattering the mug. "They took me to a prison and it was…" she trailed off, spacing out before continuing. "I saw horrible things, Katara." A tear fell from her eye, it trailed down the wrinkled cheek before disappearing in the snow. "The male guards tormented the female prisoners especially. There was one guard I specifically remember that would take a group of soldiers, grab a female prisoner and take her into a secluded room away from everyone else."

Katara flinched. "Do you remember his name?"

Hama tilted her head to the side slightly. "Yes." Looking over at the teapot, decorated with red eagle-hawks, she poured herself another cup of tea. "Yon Rha," she said disgustedly. "Their favourite woman died from thirst, so they turned their attention to me."

It was no secret that Katara had hated the Fire Nation with every fiber of her being. She remembered learning about them in school and their wickedness. The instructors had taught the young students of the subtypes of firebending, and the horrific aftermath, before going over history about them. Starting off with Fire Lord Sozin, who had started the war by killing a Northern tribe's chief's wife. [add some shit]

Even with the schooling, Katara didn't start actively hating them until her mother and Gran-gran died during a raid on the southern division. Then when she became Hama's student, the woman had told Katara stories of Fire Nation prisons, never delving too deep into her past until now, and the hate for them grew.

Her hand started to burn, she jerked and the cup spilled over her calf, burning the skin under her pants. Yelping from the pain, she staggered back on to the mat before she brought a tendril of water from a pitcher and gloved her hand with it. Pulling the black clothing up from her leg, wincing as it made the pain worse, she healed the burn in a matter of minutes.

Hama looked at her student with disappointment but not surprised that the young bender had let her emotions take over. "You need to learn how to separate your emotions from your bending." The old woman sipped her tea watching the girl wincing while she healed.

"Sorry."

With the wound healed, she placed the black cloth over her calf again, it was still warm and wet, and turned her attention back to her teacher. "Anyway," she started, "they dragged me out of that cage kicking and screaming. I couldn't defend myself because they had kept the prison dry and the water was kept far away from us. They threw me into a gray cement room and before they could even could do anything to me, I took a shot at bloodbending."

"Did it work?" Katara asked eagerly.

"Yes. When one doubled over in the pain, the others were too scared to come near me."

"Was that how you broke out?"

"No, that's how I got them to leave me alone."

The woman turned around back to the pot of soup as she was plagued with memories from the prison, some she would never bother the young woman with. Katara looked around the igloo once the conversation ended to distract herself from the growing anger in the pit of her stomach. But she couldn't stop it from gnawing at her insides. The Fire Nation was a despicable bunch and she had no sympathy for them as the United Tribe soldiers invaded their lands.

But then, something struck her, a memory from last night. _Yao,_ she thought grimly _._

Hakoda didn't see her bloodbend Yao but he would have told him by now. She briefly thought of what would happen when she returned home. If Taza and Yao hadn't already left for the mission in Omashu, she could imagine Taza at their father's side begging him to punish his daughter. Yao would have been silent, watching them while he bit nails. Yao might have been amazing in battle, but he was a lily-livered bastard at heart.

Something moved in the corner of her eye, she flickered her eyes to the bald boy in a parka. For a minute, she forgot who he was until the memory of the iceberg flooded her mind. Wrinkling her forehead, she remembered the tip breaking but how it never broke off. Maybe it didn't cut all the way through? But that wasn't the only weird moment, the iceberg started sinking, like something from the depths of the ocean starting pulling it down. That was when fear struck her heart. Then the blue light.

She had never seen something so terrifyingly beautiful in her life.

He fidgeted underneath the parka, pulling it closer to his chin. Hama said she sensed a spirit in him, that he might be the avatar. But, looking at him now, she couldn't imagine him being like his past lives. He was so small and defenseless. He couldn't possibly be the world's last hope for peace.

"Katara?"

The bender broke her gaze with the bald boy and turned her eyes to the woman with two bowls in her hands. "Yes?" she said, her voice cracking.

"Do you want breakfast?"

With a sigh, she nodded. Taking the bowl, and beginning to separate the large, whole sea prunes with her spoon and scooping them up into her mouth, she imagined her father pacing his throne room, ordering the guards around to find his daughter. Maybe it was a bad idea to spend the night in Hama's igloo but after they had got the boy to finally settle down and sleep (he bugged the two waterbenders with questions and cheery laughter), she nodded off.

She forgot about the steaming bowl of soup she placed beside her until she knocked it over with her hand. Silently cursing, she bended the broth back in to the bowl and began to swirl the liquid around with her spoon.

"You're especially clumsy today."

"Sorry."

Hama sat quietly for a moment, sipping her hibiscus tea and spooning the fish broth and sea prunes into her mouth. After an uncomfortable five minutes, she spoke. "Something on your mind?" The end of her sentence had stroke of concern.

The young girl's face sunk. "Yao, I bended his blood after he dragged me out of the hut."

Hama stopped mid spoonful and glared at Katara over the bowl of soup. "You _what?"_

"I-I bended his blood to get him to let me go."

Sitting the bowl down on to the snow, she pinched the bridge of her nose, the color of the tip of her fingers were white under the pressure. "Why would you even do something that reckless?"

"He-he just got me so mad when he grabbed me-"

"You can't afford to get mad," she whispered starkly. "Your idiotic _husband_ could have just ratted us out to your father."

Tears breached her eyes and fell on to her skin. She couldn't control the hiccups that escaped her mouth as she realized how much she screwed up last night. It was bad enough that she saved the last airbender, who might be the avatar, but now her father would know that his daughter disrespected their traditions and had learned about bloodbending.

She closed her eyes and brought her knees to her chest to shield her face. She didn't see the teacher crawl toward her but her cold, frail fingers laced around her shoulders and forced her to look at dim gray eyes. "Get a hold of yourself." The woman towered over her student, her nails dug into Katara's skin before she loosened her grip on her shoulder. "We can get through this." Her gray eyes were filled with confidence and reassurance as she held the young woman in her grip.

Slowly, Katara nodded at the teacher, making the woman's hands fold into her lap as she looked down, thinking about what would happen when they returned to the palace.

A small, childlike voice broke the silence. The two looked over to the boy in the parka and before they both knew it; they were over at his side.

Hama was hovering over the boy and Katara rubbed her eyes with the inside of her wrist to get rid of the tears. "How are you feeling?" Katara asked softly as Hama dug into the parka to retrieve his hand, turned it over to reveal his wrist and placed two long, skinny fingers over the skin. Green veins poked through his slightly yellow, pale skin.

"I'm fine," he said. The young waterbender looked in to his eyes, she saw the childlike essence about him, but something ancient lied under that. She started questioning how he could have been in that iceberg for so long but then again, if he was the avatar, it wasn't too impossible. "Where's Appa?" He broke from Hama's grip and warmed the skin with the body heat of his other old woman's touch was unbelievably cold.

They looked at each before returning their gaze back to the boy. Annoyed, he shot up from the parka and crawled out of the igloo. The women followed suit, a little slower than he did. The giant bison had fallen asleep out in the snow and a pang of guilt flowed through Katara's stomach upon seeing the animal. She honestly hadn't thought of its wellbeing between trying to make sure that the boy was ok and breathing.

At the sound of Aang's laughter, the bison lifted his head and rolled himself on to his stomach as the airbender shot up with burst of air from his hand, landing flat on his stomach on top of Appa's head. The bison groaned and tried to lick him but only managed to get his ankle. "Sorry, buddy," he smiled, sliding down from his head. "I guess I fell asleep."

Turning his attention to the two water benders, he pointed a finger at the young girl that stood behind Hama. "You," he said sternly, "promised you would bring me to your chief this morning."

"And I will." Almost like a reflex, her hands waved in front of her in a defensive motion. Just because she couldn't see this boy hurting a fly, didn't mean he was completely innocent. "I just want to take you to the healing hut for another check-up."

"Your teacher said there was nothing wrong with me."

Katara walked past Hama and toward the boy in front of her. The _avatar_. "I know, but I want to take a second look." She placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder covered by orange fabric. It felt thin under her palm and she wondered why he wasn't cold in the dead of winter. "Just to make sure you're ok," she said, a smile breaking her lips into a thin line across her face. In truth, it wasn't to make sure he was ok.

Honestly, she needed to wrap her head around the fact that the iceberg she had been trying to drown herself with held the avatar and his bison for a hundred years. And maybe she wanted to look for the avatar spirit, to prove Hama wrong.

Hama followed behind them a couple steps back. Katara kept her hand between Aang's shoulder blades as she led them to the healing hut. The hut was made of ice blocks and the entrance had an animal skin that covered the doorway. When they entered, a pool of water sat in the dead center of the room. Two healers gazed briefly at the entering guests. Their eyes darted to the floor and they quickly left the room, avoiding Katara's welcoming smile.

The smile turned to a frown, she broke her touch with Aang and started a fire quickly before Hama entered the room. Katara tried avoiding the disapproving gaze of Hama as she stared directly into the flames.

"Um?" Aang said, slicing the tension in the air like a knife. "What should I be doing?"

Without looking back, Katara said, "Take off your clothes and get in to the pool. I didn't get a very good read on you last night and that might have been because you were clothed."

She looked back and saw the obvious pink in his cheeks. "Why didn't you undress me last night then?"

"I'll remember that the next time you're on the brink of death." The notes of sarcasm in her voice brought the room back into the uncomfortable silence. When she returned her gaze to yellow flames, she heard the tiny splashes of Aang's sliding into the glistening water.

Turning around, she looked up at her teacher, now leaning against the ice wall with strands of white hair over her eyes. Katara looked down to Aang, a wide smile over his face as he floated in the shallow water. She knelt and put the pressure of her body weight down on to her knees and the tip of her toes. The boy closed his eyes and let the waterbender sway her hands over his body. A thick casing of blue water formed around him.

When healing with water, it felt almost like a third eye. It seeps through someone's body and gives the healer an extra advantage. As Katara swayed the water around with the power of her fingertips, she couldn't 'see' anything. It was like she was blind. A frustrated groan escaped between her lips. She could feel the old woman's icy gray gaze.

"Hey-whoa!" he exclaimed as she took a hold of the blood that surged through his veins.

"Don't break her concentration, be quiet!" Hama whispered.

Bloodbending and healing were alike and yet different in a lot of ways. Bloodbending is control, the person can physically feel their blood moving in any direction. Katara had heard through the grapevine that it was a painful but effective healing process.

Though, this was something she never experienced before. Bloodbending the wolf the other night had given her a comforting feeling, warmth that filled her stomach. Taking control of the airbender's blood was energizing and disturbing at the same time. She could feel cold sweat beading on her back and neck. The power that surged through her fingertips encased them like a coating of wax. It moved up through her arms, leaving her skin tingling. Her whole body was electrified, it felt like ants crawling all over her body.

Hama mumbled something that sounded like "focus" underneath her breath. Katara opened her eyes, the tingling sensation was starting to recede. When she looked down at the young boy, she saw the horror that glossed over his pale gray eyes. But the power that came from his blood was addicting. She didn't care that the boy was terrified underneath her grasp.

She dove back in to the boy's blood and the power surged through her body again. She almost forgot her mission under the intoxicating feeling. She searched quickly for any damage once again and found nothing to be concerned about.

She went deeper, going down to the cells of his body. There was something there, something with fury, it was white and hot. She traced it down to his heart or brain, she couldn't pin point it exactly.

Then, her connection broke, a force threw her body from him. A table broke underneath her as her body came colliding down from the impact with the wall, glass shards pierced her skin. Liquid pooled underneath her back and at first she thought it was blood, but seeing the purple liquid bleed on to the icy floor, she realized it was medicine. With a grimace, she looked up at the boy and cold sweat formed on her forehead.

The boy was floating above the water, his tattoos and eyes glowed a stark white. Something was happening inside her body, her chest felt like it was compressing. Air forcefully flowed out of her mouth and it formed a ball of oxygen around her head. It felt like her throat closed, she couldn't breathe. Her eyes flicked over to the boy, his hands were forming an invisible circle in front of him.

But he stopped, his tattoos faded to the baby blue and his eyes returned to their dark gray. He fell into the water. Droplets of water splashed on to the snow that surrounded the pool. The sphere of oxygen around her head fell into nothing and she gasped for air with short, heaving breaths. She clutched her chest and lifted a hand in front of her. Despite being barely able to breath, she was ready to bend the boy in a prison of ice.

She looked up and expected him to swing a surge of air at her, to knock her back against the wall, but he stared with worry as she dug her fingers into the snow, still gasping for air. Hama was already at her side with a hand against her back. Katara's ribs started to hurt with the sharp breaths that entered her body.

"I'm-I'm so sorry!" he shouted, his voice cracked in between sobs.

But the student wasn't mad at the airbender. Fear and shock prickled her skin with the slow inhales of breath and the wet tears that stained her eyes. She wasn't sad, but in between breaths her eyes had begun to water.

"You're-" she didn't want to say it, in fact she had trouble believing it. "You're the avatar." His shoulders had slumped from her words. "I felt the avatar spirit inside you. You're the avatar."

"You said that already," he whispered.

Something trickled through her, anger? Horror? Happiness? It was a mix. She couldn't explain it. She felt Hama's hand move in circles on her back, it comforted her briefly before she returned her gaze to the avatar.

"You need to leave," she finally said.

A blend of shock and grief shined through his eyes. "Look I'm sorry! I don't have control-"

"No!" she interrupted. Hot tears breached through her eyes. "My father is going to kill you if he meets you. You need to leave."

"What are you talking about? I thought the Southern Water Tribe was supposed to be a loving and welcoming place."

She remembered the stories of old, before the war. The Southern Water Tribe had been peaceful and welcomed everyone of all bending types. It had been warm and inviting despite it being snowy a hundred percent of the time. It wasn't a patriarchy like it was now. They got this from the North. Gazing up at the _kid,_ a feeling formed in her, it was inspiring and good. It was admiration.

She bit her lip. "We aren't like that anymore. We are cold and cruel and we are tyrants." A tear escaped from Aang's eyes. "Get your stupid bison and get out of here!" She bended a surge of snow at the boy, he raised his hands in protection.

When he saw Katara's eyes, they were nothing but icy and mad. She watched him grab his clothes and run out of the hut, leaving the two benders alone with splinters of the wooden table that encircled them.

She looked up to Hama through the thin locks of chocolate hair that had come loose from her braid. With a huff and a single hot tear that trailed against her brown skin, she said, "I'm ready to face my family."

* * *

They walked back in silence, which was now becoming a common thing between the two. Even with the awkward silence, Katara was thankful for the brief bit of peace. She thought about Taza and him yelling at their father to punish her for breaking their traditions. Katara never knew what she had done to make Taza hate her so much but he always had it out for her, always making their parents punish Katara severely for any small thing. If they didn't do anything, he would with a punch in the leg that left her bruised for weeks. More importantly, she thought about Hama, and what the poor woman had been through.

The snow crunched under their boots, a fresh blanket had come early this morning Hama had told her. A strong wind blew through her hair, almost making the parka that rested on top of her head fall back. The humidity in the air was stronger than normal.

The palace came into her vision. A row of white columns gave support to the broad and wide roof covered in the fresh blanket of snow. Men in blue wolf armor stood in parade rest with their right hands outstretched, spears held in a grip. Two men by the grand doors moved in to attention, the spears now resting uncomfortably in their hands, as the women came into view. The wolf headed helmet covered the majority of their face, leaving only a small peak of deep brown skin and blue eyes. Knuckles were white against the pressure they had placed on the wooden spear, an uneasiness in their body language as the two waterbenders got closer and closer.

Something was off.

Katara got in a waterbending stance, as she was about to summon the water she had melted at her feet into a long water whip Hama gripped her arm. That same confidence and reassurance was gone from the woman's eyes and the only thing that laid beyond her eyes was defeat. Her arms fell to her sides and her body relaxed. The men pushed Katara roughly into the snow and grabbed the old woman up under her arms.

"What are you doing?" Katara shouted.

"We have orders from the chief to throw Hama into the dungeons."

She scrambled to her feet, melting more snow around her to form a stream of water. Ready, to shoot it at each of the guards but upon seeing the woman's defeat in her gray eyes again, the water fell back down to the ground, turning into ice in a matter of seconds. "Don't," Hama whispered. The guards picked up the teacher and carried her inside the palace. Katara ran after them, her hand outreached in front of her trying to grasp the shirts of the men.

Someone ran up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. "Katara," a masculine voice whispered. She turned around to see Sokka, his hair down and messy. He must have just woken up.

"What are they doing?" she cried out.

"Dad ordered Hama to be placed in jail as soon as any guard laid eyes on her." His arms were crossed around his chest. He only wore a blue robe and was barefoot, keeping his face expressionless.

"Where's dad?" she demanded. Her brother rested his eyes on her, a flicker of emotion -pity, probably- was in his eyes.

Suddenly, his face softened, mouth forming a frown and his shoulders slumped. "He is in the throne room with Taza."

* * *

She burst through the doors, water encasing her arms as she stared down her brother and her father. Taza glared her down but her father had a look of sympathy mixed with sternness. He averted his eyes from hers. For a moment, the water started to drip on to the floor, but as she imagined her teacher sitting on the cold cement floor, it formed into ice.

"What have you done?" Her voice was faint, but the disappointment that laced her words was apparent.

"I had to protect y-"

He didn't finish his sentence, Katara melted the ice around her arms and shot a jet of water at her father. He crashed against the wall and fell in a heap to the floor. Taza unsheathed his sword.

"Back off!" Taza shouted. He ran toward her, the sword ready to cut her down. But she formed a hand made of ice and punched him square in the chest. He fell to his knees, clutching his chest the same way Katara had when Aang sucked the air out of her lungs.

She walked over to her father, still sitting on the ground. Shame was obvious in his body language. His daughter stood over him, the ice still encasing her arms. Hakoda met her gaze, his eyes were distant and she couldn't recognize the loving man that was her father.

She wanted to scream at him, show him that she wasn't weak like he had portrayed her to be. Their whole society was built on the women being belittled but as she stared at the man in front of her, she realized he was weak. Putting people down to make yourself stronger wasn't how strong people acted. They were like Hama, resilient and a fighter. They stood their ground and fought for what they believed in.

Tears fell down her cheeks. "You imprisoned the most important person to me."

Doors behind her opened and a shuffling of boots hit the floor. At first, she didn't feel the rough hands underneath her arms that pulled her off her feet. She could only glare her father down, the broken mess he was.

A shell of who he used to be before her mother died. "You changed," she said, before the rooms to the throne room closed in front of her.

* * *

They threw her into her room. At first, she sat on the ground, crying herself into a mess. Locks of hair came out of her braid and were now damp with tears and her face was hot. Her throat throbbed from the heaving sobs.

The hours seemed to go by slowly at first before she got a visitor. When Yao entered her room, he stood at the door and gazed down at his wife, absorbed in her own crying.

The man had black hair in the style as her brothers, shaved sides, with long tufts of hair gathered into a ponytail. But the sides of his head were covered in short hair. He was dressed in the formal, navy blue wolf armor. Instantly, she remembered that Yao and Taza were set to go off on a mission the morning after the wedding. As she gazed upon the man at her door, she took in his features. He was a handsome fellow; his face was angular and skinny. Yao had high cheekbones and plump red lips. The skin on his face was perfect, not a single imperfection. A black crescent moon was tattooed on his forehead. It symbolized the mark of the brave.

Each soldier in the United Tribe had either the mark of the brave, the mark of the trusted or the mark of the wise somewhere on their body. Only the most elite and powerful soldiers had all three. Taza had the mark of the trusted on his shoulder, Katara laughed mentally at the irony of Taza being trustworthy. Hakoda had all three of the symbols; saying he got the mark of the brave when he won the siege of an Earth Kingdom island, giving the United Tribe an advantage over the Fire Nation in the war. The mark of the trusted was later, when he went under a secret mission Katara had no idea about. The mark of the wise was given to him when he became chief of the southern division of the United Tribe.

Cerulean eyes locked on to her petite body. For once in a long time, she had felt vulnerable and scared. She had felt like a defenseless child waiting to be punished. Though, she tried to fight that feeling, sitting up from the hard ground to meet his gaze. She could imagine how puffy and red her grayish blue eyes were. She imagined Yao would tremble under her gaze, but he didn't. He held his ground. Maybe he was braver than she had remembered.

"My love," he said.

"I'm not your love."

His eyes shifted and his body language changed. Yao was a muscular man, lean and tall. He towered over most men in the tribe. Now, he acted completely different than usual. He seemed…concerned for her? Which was odd, they weren't in love. Their marriage was strictly political. Maybe in his own way, he was in love with her.

 _I could use this to my advantage._

Making her eyes weary and turning her mouth in to a deep frown, she decided to milk his feelings for her and turn it in to something she could use. Acting vulnerable and manipulating him like this made her stomach churn in an unusual way but then she imagined Hama in that dark, cold cell.

Turning her face in to a pout, she said, "Yao, let's runaway from here." She had crawled over to him, her hands gripping his legs to make her seem subservient to him. If he consented to this plan, she would ditch him as soon as it was safe to do so. "We could take your canoe and some supplies. We could sail to a colony and live our life in secret."

She looked up, and with forceful tears in her eyes, she searched for his pity. But there was nothing. Instead, there was an underlying anger. His hands were clenched at his sides and the cerulean eyes were closed tightly, wrinkles forming around them.

"You want me to abandon my nation?" His eyes were open, and they stared down at her. She could feel him shooting mental ice daggers at her. "For you?" A small smirk formed at his lips and she was hopeful for a moment.

His boot made impact with her stomach, kicking her down on to her back away from him. Clutching her stomach, she could feel vomit edge her tongue. "I don't love you that much," he whispered.

As he exited the room, she couldn't stop herself from vomiting on to floor. As she stared down at the mess, her chest heaving, cries erupted from her mouth. She would never be free.

* * *

It must've been -what? Days, weeks? She lost track of how long she was kept in her room. The only people that came were the same three female servants.

She had gotten to know them pretty well in the past couple days. Fin was around Katara's age and she was from the Earth Kingdom, specifically from Omashu. She had deep emerald eyes and a tattoo of a fan on her arm. When Katara asked about it, Fin dismissed her question with a wave of her hand. The next two were twins working off a debt made by their parents, Wo and To. They had light brown eyes with chestnut hair. Their skin was lighter than most the citizens of the tribe. When Katara asked them where they were, they dismissed her as well.

Her servants were a strange and eccentric group. They made inappropriate jokes about the men in the tribe that they bedded often. Through them, Katara had learned some new things about some of the men that worked as palace guards, that she wasn't sure if she wanted to know. Fin was the one who Katara saw most. The girl gave Katara updates on Hama. Over time, Hama had lost a substantial amount of weight. The guards had offered the former teacher only bowls of rice and dried fish but she refused consistently.

She could only think of her impending fate. There hasn't been an execution in the United Tribe for a long time but Hama had broken traditions in a nation that had not branched from their one-way thinking in thousands of years. She couldn't think that her father would be the kind of man to order an execution, but Taza had returned early from his military mission. Anything was bound to happen.

As she laid in her bed that night, the comforting warm blanket surrounding her body and making her into a cocoon, she shifted restlessly which had become a common thing now.

The guards outside her room were noisy, sometimes she couldn't blame them. Standing outside someone's door to make sure they didn't get out seemed like the most boring job in the world. Their laughs bellowed in to her room, muffled from the door, but still loud enough for her to lay awake in her bed.

But it wasn't just them that kept her awake late at night. Mostly, she thought of Hama. She had refused to eat on most days though drank the water and tea every time. She couldn't stop herself from thinking about what the guards could have done to her in the Fire Nation prisons, and she wondered if the guards that served her nation were doing the same to her teacher right now.

Getting up, drifting her mind away from those wretched thoughts, she gracefully sauntered to the window facing the city. Again, having the same thoughts she had at the iceberg. She could melt the ice below the window enough to make the water into a giant wave. She could break the ice with something, maybe the melted snow or the chair at her desk. Then she could jump out on to the water and ride the wave to the ports on the shores of the South Pole.

But, then what?

When she got to one of the ports, there was nothing but large, wooden ships. No canoes. She had never learned how to sail, nor did she have any supplies to last her before she got to the nearest village. And her father and Yao would be traveling the world to track her down. If she got caught, she would be right back where she was. Or, she would be where Hama was. Rotting away in a prison cell that was devoid of moisture and elephant rat-infested. But maybe-

 _Why was it so quiet suddenly?_ Turning her head around, she locked her eyes on to the door. There were supposed to be the noisy guards, standing outside fighting off sleep with bad jokes.

Now it was silent.

With caution, she got in a bloodbending stance, doubting that this would be successful since she hadn't gotten much practice since she was locked in her room. The door handle creaked as someone jimmied it from the other side. There were two small shadows that blocked out the light from the hallway. Her heart somersaulted.

Someone was trying to get in, but for what? Her eyebrows furrowed at the shadow, they shifted and disappeared. She tip-toed over to the door to hear someone yell "-you doing?" Then there were two thuds and then something crashed down on to the floor. The shadows returned and the handle to her door continued to creak and groan.

She backed away slowly, her heart pounding through her chest. Sweat had beaded on to her forehead as the door opened.

She couldn't see who it was at first but knew it was a man. With his back to the torches that lined the walls of the hallway, his figure was black, but she saw the outline of a satchel and the outline of a boomerang in his hand. The figure stepped forward, and all she saw was the grayish-blue eyes that were identical to hers.

"Sokka."

* * *

 _AN: Hey, this chapter is a bit longer because I am ready for the story to kick off. Please let me know if any of the characters are OOC, except for Hama. She is supposed to be somewhat opposite of her canon character in the original story. The previous chapters have been finally updated and edited, so if you haven't checked them out, go do it._

 _Leave some reviews perhaps?_

 _Promise that the next update will actually be a chapter. I already have it finished and in the editing process._

 _Anyway, next chapter is a Sokka POV. And I'm sorry in advance for the heavy display of Yukka._

 _Thanks for reading!_


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: First off, huge thanks to my beta, SeraNeko-Chan, for helping me with this chapter. She even inputted her own paragraphs to make the story flow better. Second, sorry for the delay. Some things have come up in my personal life that I have to attend to first._

 _This chapter was especially hard to write but I wanted to include some Sokka in here since he is one of my favourite characters. Here's his serious side because there are too many fanfictions where he's just the comic relief. Sorry for the Yukka, for anyone who doesn't ship them. I promise Suki is coming soon._

* * *

Chapter four

 _Seven days ago_

Yue was the most beautiful woman Sokka had ever laid eyes on. Her white hair was caught in a loose braid, lying still on the white silk sheets of his bed. Mocha skin, a smidge darker than his, was bare underneath the puffy blue comforter. His lips tingled at the thought of dragging them across her skin.

But he continued to watch her back move with deep, shallow breaths. Sokka couldn't help but become a lovesick owl-puppy around her. It was hard not to melt under her cobalt gaze, it was even harder in front of their family. Sighing dreamily, he watched as she moved to her back, pulling the blanket farther up her naked body. She was still asleep but her eyes were fluttering.

She snored somewhat noisily next to him as he sunk into the bed remembering the way she breathed heavily in his ear. He thought about the betrothal necklace that he would drape around her neck one day. It would have to be a moonstone, carved with something original but he couldn't think of a design because he wasn't imaginative enough. He would intertwine a black matte ribbon around the white, glossy moonstone.

Eyes fluttering open, the partially dark room came into her focus. Sokka's bed sat in the middle of the large room, covered in white silk sheets and a puffy navy comforter. The candles illuminated a circle of white light on to the calming cream walls.

She turned over, expecting to find her beloved drooling with his mouth wide open but instead she found him gazing at her lovingly. The candles highlighted his handsome face, angular but a little round at the apple of his cheeks. His grayish blue eyes glimmered with joy and admiration. Dark mauve lips were spread out into a sleepy grin. His bare chest, outlined with his lean muscles, was hidden partially under the blue comforter.

She grinned, matching his lazy but joyful smile. She scooted herself toward him with a light chuckle, snuggling in to his warmth.

"Hey," he whispered into her snowy hair. He placed a light kiss on her head, causing her to form a coral colored blush on her cheeks. "How'd you sleep?"

She moaned quietly, a memory of his calloused but somehow smooth and warm hands exploring her body flooded her brain. She longed for him to do that to her again. "Better, with you here," she said sleepily. She nuzzled her nose lightly against his clean skin, inhaling his salty scent.

"I feel the same way." Sokka wrapped an arm around the girl and pulled her body closed to him. As they laid together in a comfortable silence, he remembered how she was supposed to be leaving back for the north soon. The joy in his heart was replaced by a sudden grief as he thought about being away from her. Going without her touch or her kisses made his skin crawl, and not in a good way. He looked down at her, barely able to see her remarkable face as she buried herself into his chest.

He didn't want to interrupt how content she looked snuggled up against him. Frankly, having her naked body pressed firmly against his wasn't too bad either, but he removed his hand to gently grip her shoulder, rolling her over so he could+ look at her. A frown formed on her face as she lost the warmth from his body, she pulled the blanket up above her mouth but it wasn't the warmth she desired.

Sokka, now disappointed that he couldn't feel the heat that radiated off her, sighed solemnly. "I'm sorry," he paused, considering if what he was worrying about was worth ruining their moment. "I just can't stop thinking about you going home."

Her face softened, wrapping the blanket tightly around her body and sat up in the bed, resting her back against the cool leather of the headboard. "Sokka," she began, "it's not like we'll never see each other again."

Sokka laid on his back, gazing up into the darkness gathering his thoughts. No matter how much he loved this woman, he got annoyed every time he tried to bring this issue and she would shrug it off with the promise that they would see each other again. She wasn't wrong but he was tired of seeing her go just as he felt like she had just gotten here.

"I know," he whispered. "But I want you to stay."

Peering over at the girl, he saw that she twiddled with her thumbs at the sound of him bringing up her staying with him. Away from her home and family, her friends. She sighed, knowing that he just missed her. Knowing that she felt the same. She hated leaving him and the thought of getting on the boat in four days left a pit in her stomach.

"Sokka, I can't. Our families would start asking questions."

He propped himself on his elbow, facing Yue. Her cobalt gaze locked with his and he could feel his heart skip. "So let's tell them," he whispered hopefully. Yue scoffed, throwing her hands in to the air as if to say 'not this again'. He sighed at her reaction, scratching his jaw uncomfortably. "Why is it such a big deal? Katara already knows, hell she's even covered for us."

The woman slipped out of the bed, standing up and then bending down to pick up Sokka's blue robe on the floor. Sokka couldn't help to marvel at the sight of Yue's bare back. Her glowing, dark caramel skin contrasted with the bright candlelight. Her back was dotted with brown faint freckles that started at her shoulders, faded in the middle and then regained their lustrous color the farther down they went. She slipped on the blue robe while Sokka cursed mentally at not seeing her naked body anymore.

"Katara knowing is a lot different than your father and my father finding out. They would never approve of our marriage."

"How do you know?" Sokka asked sitting up from the bed.

"Sokka," she began, sitting back down on the bed to face him. "My father would never approve of me marrying someone who wasn't a warrior yet."

"Ugh," he exclaimed falling back on to his bed with his hands rubbing his face fully knowing she was right. Noticing the annoyance in his mannerisms, she waited for a moment to gather what she could say to make him feel better but nothing came to mind. In fact, she was just as annoyed as he was that they had to keep their relationship a secret. An exasperated sigh escaped her mouth as she bent down to slip the wolf-fur lined slippers on to her feet.

"I have to get back to my room," she whispered. His head snapped over to her as a hurt look formed on his face. His hands slowly splayed across his face to tear his eyes away from her. She sat on the bed for a couple more seconds and longed for him to sit up and wrap his body around her to keep her from leaving him.

But he didn't.

Yue solemnly lifted herself off the bed and gracefully sauntered over to the door. She laced her fingers around the cool metal and looked over her shoulder. She wanted to catch a glimpse of his soft blue eyes of his, but Sokka was glaring at the ceiling with his eyebrows furrowed.

Reluctantly, she walked out of his room.

* * *

 _Six days ago_

Waking up the next morning, all he could think about was the white-haired woman in his bed last night. He regretted letting her leave the way he did but he also knew they couldn't keep avoiding this issue any longer.

How did he let himself get too deep with her? Why did he think starting an intimate relationship with that desirable woman was a good idea?

Frustration seethed out through his skin. It didn't matter how it started or why he would let himself fall so deep in love with her. The point was, he was in bed with an empty feeling in his heart while his beloved was being introduced to suitors this morning.

His hands slapped his face and they clenched into fists as he tried to get the image of his beloved in bed with another man out of his head. He cursed the peace treaty between the two tribes that tied their nations together but was too fragile for a marriage between them. As he fiddled with a string that came loose from his comforter, he started thinking about the first time he had really _looked_ at her. They had been childhood friends and somehow he had never looked at her like… that. It wasn't until his family went to the North Pole where his father and her father, Chief Arnook, were looking for ways to raid a Fire Nation colony and take it for their own.

Back then, Yue had waited anxiously out on one of the ports in the North Pole, fifteen at the time. He remembered leaning over the edge of the wooden ship and watching the blue, frigid water separate with white, foamy bubbles at the hull. In the background, hee could hear his father scolding Katara for splashing Taza with a jet of the frigid water. He remembered thinking his father was a little harsh with his sister when she got in trouble.

He turned around from the enigmatic view to watch his petite sister, a year younger than Yue, with her eyes glassy with tears. She had reluctantly bended the water from Taza's clothes and hair, as he stood with a sly grin on his face.

The ship had docked, shaking everyone on board. Sokka turned back around to see Chief Arnook, surprised he hadn't aged that much. Dark chocolate shoulder-length hair laid behind his ears, except for two strands that were bound by dark blue ribbon in the middle. His cheeks were sunken in, a patch of dark facial hair gathered around his chin, coming to a point. His mouth was a tight line, but upon seeing his friend, Hakoda, standing near his second-oldest son at the hull, the corner of his lips turned up into a small smirk.

The girl stood by him, her back straight, wrapped in a sapphire parka that matched her striking eyes. An indigo dress fell to the floor underneath the parka. Sokka flicked his eyes to her face, a little rounder than it was in the present, white locks of hair fell into thick braids around her face that was wrapped in the same blue ribbon as the one that bound her father's hair bound at the end of her snowy locks. Her hair was pulled up into what looked like a bun but the hair fell into giant loops separated in the middle. At first he was confused at who the remarkably beautiful girl next to Arnook was until Katara called out 'Yue' in an excited tone and he was left speechless.

That wasn't the same girl he knew at ten years old. That girl was skinny, and short with chubby cheeks and a slightly pudgy stomach. Yue had become slender and her eyes seemed to dazzle against her stark white hair.

At the sound of her name, her pink lips had spread into a grin as his little sister stumbled down the ramp, running up to the girl before jumping into an embrace. Yue's smile dazzled the boy and he was instantly bewitched with her.

Two years later and she only got more beautiful. Her body grew to become slender but with curves in all the right places. It seemed like ever since that day, her eyes had gained even more depth until they were like bottomless pools. Now he couldn't imagine his life without her touch or her sweet laugh. Even worse, he couldn't imagine a future without her.

He gathered himself up from the comfort of his mattress but images of her icy white hair entangled with his fists and her mouth moaning his name flooded his mind. He cursed himself mentally at the way Yue had enchanted his mind.

Arousal grew in his body and he tried imagining something completely unappealing, like Katara's old teacher, naked. Once his arousal subsided, he threw on thick leggings and a spare robe from the bathroom, since Yue's took Sokka's last night. He looked in the mirror to find his hair was in a mess down from the wolf tail he wore often. The usually shaved sides of his head had faint chocolate stubble, clearly in need of another shave. He shuffled his feet lazily against the black marble floor imported from Ba Sing Se looking for the stairs to the first floor where the kitchen was.

His stomach grumbled and he gripped it to try to mask the sound. All he could think about was the blubbered seal jerky in the pantry and his mouth was watering at the memory of the salty but delicious taste. A dreamy smile spread across his face thinking about the food that was left in the kitchen, he gripped the railing of the stairs and made his way down.

He stepped on to the first floor, immediately seeing servants and guards bustling their way around in their usual morning routines. A couple of the female servants greeted Sokka with a sultry smile. His cheeks flushed at the unwanted admiration as he responded with a formal greeting. Guards passed him and gave him a nod of their heads or point blank ignored the welcoming smile he gave them.

The door to the kitchen came into view and he immediately forgot the rudeness of the guards as he opened the door. He saw the cooks busying themselves over the stoves and chopping board. He glanced over the shoulder of an older maidservant busying herself over the slicing a dragon fruit. He quickly sneaked a sliver of the milky white fruit, earning an angry look from the old woman. A male servant soon noticed the tribal prince walking through the kitchen. He held the ginseng tea in his hand and shoved into the young man's face before he made his way to the pantry. Sokka took it gratefully with a nod of thanks before stumbling off into the pantry. Breakfast wasn't supposed to be served for another couple hours but he was famished.

He looked around at the food, either wrapped up in cloth or kept in wooden bowls. Saliva built up in his mouth when he saw the dark red of the jerky poking out of the white cloth. Most couldn't handle the impossibly salty, chewiness of the meat and it was often only there for long journeys at sea. Though, Sokka couldn't keep away from it. It was his favourite food in the tribe, but that's what he thought about basically everything meat.

Unfurling the cloth, a smell of meat and salt wafted into his nostrils, a slight grin spread on his face as he pulled a couple nice looking pieces out.

Looking down at the wonders of the food in his hand, he shoved the bag wherever it wouldn't fall the floor and then he tore one into smaller bits before popping it into his mouth. His teeth gritted against the chewy dried meat and a satisfied feeling came over him.

Finishing the jerky and leaving the pantry, he rubbed his hands together to get rid of the crumbs when he saw the shape of a girl -his sister- reaching her hand out to grip the tunic of the guards. He looked where the guards were to see an old woman staring at the floor with a grim expression as the men roughly dragged her away from his sister.

Watching the scene unravel, he remembered why she was being dragged out by guards in the first place. Last night, in the war room, Hakoda had paced the room in a furious manner discussing the airbender that Katara broke out of the iceberg. He mostly grumbled to himself and Sokka hadn't been able to make out what he said. Yao sat in a chair facing toward the pacing chief while twiddling his thumbs. Taza had noticed the nervous soldier and had immediately demanded to know why he was being so jumpy.

He shifted uncomfortably in the tall chair when Hakoda flicked his eyes up at his son-in-law and started to ask the same questions Taza asked. Yao whispered it anxiously at first, but with the yell of his father-in-law to speak up, he told them what had happened between the newlyweds.

"Bloodbending," his father had grumbled. He had turned to Taza, pointing an accusing finger at his oldest. "Did you know about this?" Taza had shaken his head. Then, he had pointed a finger at Sokka. "How about you? You and your sister are close."

 _Not anymore,_ Sokka had mentally said sadly.

Sokka shook his head, causing Hakoda to return his finger to his side. Yao had cleared his throat apprehensively. Sokka's face had turned sour as he watch the highly esteemed soldier squirm in his seat. He realized he didn't like Yao as much as he probably should but he had heard what the man said about other women while engaged to his sister. Sokka swore to sock him in the mouth he ever said something as vile as he did about the other woman with his sister.

"Who could have taught her that? None of the healing teachers even know about bloodbending!" Hakoda's hands rose in to the air in disbelief before slapping down on to his thighs, his mouth a gape in shock.

"Maybe it's that woman," Taza suggested. The young men all turned their heads to Taza, a grin on his face. If Taza grinned any more, Sokka would have thought that he enjoyed ruining their sister's life. "Hama."

Sokka was shook out of his memory from last night as Katara frantically yelled 'what are they doing?' at him. He looked down at her, eyes puffy and red. He hardened his face and crossed his arms. "Dad ordered Hama to be placed in jail as soon as any guard laid eyes on her."

"Where's dad?" she demanded, her voice cracking somewhat. Pity and compassion filled his heart staring down at his sister clearly in distress.

He felt his face soften. Worry struck his chest thinking about what would happen when she stormed into the throne room and confronted their dad. "He's in the throne room with Taza," he reluctantly said, arms falling to his sides.

Sokka watched as his sister turned on her heels, gathering two tendrils of glistening water from a nearby pitcher on a servant's tray to her arms. He watched the water encase her limbs and moved with her body like it was another appendage. She turned a corner and disappeared out of his sight.

 _Five days ago_

The sparring room was lined with weapons, but each wall was dedicated to different types. The east wall was lined with machetes, whale's tooth scimitars, pikes and spears made of imported wood and bones. The west wall had battle clubs, axes and boomerangs. The south wall was decorated with different types of daggers, typically made of bone or large teeth, very few of the weapons were made of metal. The north wall had four paintings of the most recent chiefs in wolf armor. They were to remind the men who trained here of their fathers' spirits and that they would always be with them.

Hakoda's scimitar came crashing down on Sokka's boomerang, almost knocking it out of the younger one's hands. He tightened his grip on the weapon as the older man brought the scimitar down with more pressure and bringing his second oldest down with it.

Sweat danced on his forehead as Sokka kept a level gaze and challenged his father to knock him down. Hakoda seemed to accept the challenge as he glared back at the young man and widened his stance. Sokka smirked as he started to shakely raise himself off the ground, just high enough to swing his leg out under his father to knock him down. He landed with a grunt on the hard mat.

Hakoda propped himself up from ground with his elbow and rubbed the protruding bump on his head where it collided with the floor. He looked up at the smug, proud expression of his son and he felt his lips turned upwards in a smile. "That was good," he groaned. Sokka smirked and reached a hand out to help his father up from the ground. Hakoda latched on to Sokka's firmly with a sinister grin before spinning around and pulling the same move Sokka pulled. The cold blade of Hakoda's scimitar, one of the few weapons made of metal, rested firmly at the skin of Sokka's throat.

"Ok! Ok! I get it! I lost! You won! You're better than me! Please remove the sword!" Sokka pleaded with his fingers pushing the weapon away from his throat.

A throaty, amused laugh escaped his mouth. He retreated the blade and he offered his hand. Sokka accepted the gesture with caution as his father helped him get up from the ground. Hakoda's face had droplets of sweat gliding down his brown skin. His neat long hair stuck to his skin and was damp from the sweat.

Sokka was miserable from the moisture on his skin. He was dreaming of a nice, long bath and cold water when Hakoda patted his back, making the thin blue tunic stick even more to his skin.

"That was good, though maybe working with a boomerang isn't the best choice," he suggested while lifting his blade to point at the silvery weapon in Sokka's hand.

Sokka scoffed and held the boomerang up so that there was a glint on the sharp edge of the weapon. "I'll have you know," he began arrogantly, "that you can always lose a sword in battle. But old boomerang here," he leaned close to his father who had an amused but concerned look on his face. A hand flew up to Sokka's face and he placed it next to his mouth, like he was trying to tell his father a juicy secret while twirling the boomerang in his other hand. "Will always come back."

He straightened his back and held his head up triumphantly. A snicker escaped Hakoda's mouth at his son's mannerisms. "Might be, but I did kick your ass so you need to practice more on 'old boomerang.'"

Two maidservants appeared in the room carrying a tray of glass cups filled with ice-cold water. They bowed to the two men and waited for Hakoda's nod of approval before coming closer. After he gave the nod, they sauntered up and presented the tray to the two. Sokka reached for the cold glass and immediately downed the soothing liquid. The women waited patiently for the men to finish before placing the glasses back on the tray.

"Sir?" the maidservant who wasn't carrying anything asked. She reached behind her to pull out a scroll with a wax seal of the Southern division insignia, a crescent moon with three waves coming out the middle, keeping the scroll together. "Taza and Yao have sent an update on the progress of the Omashu mission."

"Thank you," Hakoda mumbled, taking the scroll out of her hands. "Dismissed." The women bowed and scurried hurriedly out of the sparring room.

Hakoda broke the wax seal and unfurled the scroll out. The handwriting was a little bit smudged and messy so it was definitely Taza who wrote out the message. He skimmed through the writings. Sokka watched his brows furrow and his face turn into a sour scowl before his hands went limp and fell to his side. The scroll wrinkled in his grasp.

"What happened?" Sokka asked. He thought about reaching for the scroll and finding out for himself but he stopped himself. It would be a great disrespect to his father and his chief.

"The mission overall was successful," Hakoda began, "but there's resistance. Not only are the citizens refusing to bow to their new rule, but Taza has been receiving threats from Fire Nation Commander Zhao." Hakoda gripped the scroll tighter and crinkled it up in his fist. "Get dressed and meet me in the war room."

Hakoda slipped through the door alerted a servant to gather the Council of Elders in the war room before running off to his bed chambers to change quickly into the wolf armor.

Later that afternoon, Hakoda sat at the head of the long table while the elders and Chief Arnook sat on the other seats. He waiting patiently for the men to stop mumbling under their breath before he started talking about the main topic. Before he could though, Sokka stumbled in awkwardly in his wolf armor. The council turned from the open door to the awkward smile of the tribal prince as he bowed to his father. Hakoda pinched his nose in annoyance before motioning for him to sit on his left side.

"Now that everyone's here," he said looking over to his son who just gave him a wide nervous grin, "I'm sure you're wondering why I called for this sudden meeting." The men nodded in unison. "I received a message from my son and son-in-law earlier this afternoon about the development in Omashu."

"Is it good news?" an old man with a receding hairline asked.

"Somewhat. Omashu was an easy mission and they received very little resistance from King Bumi. However, the citizens and former military officers have formed a resistance. They are attacking Water Tribe soldiers on their nightly patrols, and recently started a riot."

"Was anyone hurt?" Chief Arnook asked sincerely.

"Yes." Hakoda twiddled his thumbs under the table so only Sokka noticed his anxiety. "Two citizens and a soldier were killed. The rioters were quickly detained before any further damage. They are currently in jail awaiting trial."

"What is your next mode of action, Chief?" one of the elders asked.

Hakoda reluctantly met eyes with Arnook, the northern chief's eyes fred as he awaited the response. Hakoda leaned over the table and rested his forearms on the smooth wooden surface. "Chief Arnook, I'm requesting a squadron of northern soldiers to be sent to Omashu."

Arnook snapped out of his seat so quickly that the chair scooted away from him a couple inches. He slammed a fist on the wooden surface and made the elders widen their cerulean eyes at the sudden outburst. "No!" he shouted. "More and more men are dying every day in this useless war. I refuse to rip my men away from their families to fight in war that has lost all meaning."

"Chief Arnook," an elder began, "what are you saying?"

Arnook looked from the elder to Hakoda. Nervousness balled in his stomach but he straightened his back. "This war started out with our tribes becoming united in response to the assassination attempt by the Fire Nation. As this war progressed, our forefathers wiped out an entire nation of innocent people in search for the avatar. Good men have lost their lives on both sides. I'm saying I am considering pulling our support for the war."

The council members gasped at Arnook's declaration. Hakoda remained expressionless but his mind was racing. Sokka dug his nails into the skin of his legs. He wanted to shout something at Arnook's sudden betrayal but he remained silent. He looked over to his father.

Hakoda kept his mouth hidden by his hands pulled into fists pressing against his upper lip. His jaw clenched and his whole body remained rigid. The surrounding the council members murmured amongst themselves worriedly, but once Hakoda rose from his seat to meet the challenge that Arnook was giving him, they quieted.

"Chief Arnook, if you retract your support from the war then you betray the treaty our forefathers signed."

"You are wasting time fighting for the rule over Omashu. We already have most Earth Kingdom towns under both of our rules. Ba Sing Se and Omashu are the last two strongholds of the Earth Kingdom. But while we waste time with Omashu, the Fire Nation could be planning an attack on Ba Sing Se."

"No one has gotten past their walls," the youngest of the council members said.

"Have we forgotten about the Dragon of the West?" one of the older councilmen said. The room went quiet at the mention of the famed general.

"Even so," Hakoda began, "we need Omashu's military force to get through Ba Sing Se's."

Arnook scoffed and waved his hand in front of him to dismiss Hakoda's retort. "We have almost every city on the continent overrun. We can recruit other soldiers."

Hakoda laughed dryly at his suggestion. "Omashu's soldiers have resources we need, they have advanced weapons. Without Omashu, we will lose the war."

Arnook looked down at his feet for a moment and contemplated his response. The Northern tribe had lost to many soldiers in the conflict and he was worried that his citizens would start a resistance to stop the war. His eyes were glassy when they met Hakoda's. He kept his face expressionless. "Then I retract my support for the war."

Anger built up in Hakoda. He slamed both of his fists against the table before pointing a finger at Chief Arnook. "If you do this we could lose the war!"

"If I don't do this, the citizens of the Northern tribe will riot. I'm sorry Chief Hakoda, but I refuse to be apart of this war much longer." Arnook straightened his clothes and smoothed them out with the palms of his hands. The councilmen each glanced from the two chiefs. Hakoda had his jaw clenched tightly and his hands were balled up into fists with his knuckles planted firmly against the table. Arnook kept his demeanor calm but his body was rigid and his eyes were narrowed at Hakoda's. They waited patiently for an outburst from the chiefs but nothing came.

"By refusing to participate in this war, I have no choice but to retract our treaty. We will no longer be a united nation. We will no longer be allies, Chief Arnook."

"Dad," Sokka whispered. Hakoda gave him a glare to silence his worried son before turning attention back to his former ally.

"You are to leave the Southern Water Tribe by tonight," Hakoda hissed. "If the Fire Nation ever attacks your tribe, you will not be receiving support from us."

Arnook gave Hakoda a shallow bow before throwing a threatening glare at his new enemy. "The same goes for us, _Chief,_ " he spat. A few of his personal guards opened the doors to the war room as Chief Arnook gave the rest of the council a head bow before filing out of the room.

An exasperated sigh left Hakoda's mouth as he adjourned the meeting. The council members gathered their paperwork quickly when an unpleasant silence filled the room. Hakoda's hands snaked up to his face and then balled into fists. The skin on his face turned red and a vein on his jaw began to pulsate. He jerked up from his chair, pushing it back from his body and swiped a hand across the table. A flurry of papers flew up in the air and floated down to the marbled floor.

Hakoda's chest heaved quick and deep as anger flooded through his veins. Without the North's support, the Fire Nation will easily take Omashu and Ba Sing Se. After that the rest of the Earth Kingdom would soon follow. With the end of the treaty the Water Tribes were once again divided and the world and the world would turn to its position from soon after the start of the war. At this rate the Fire Nation was going to conquer the whole world and his people would either die or become second hand citizens.

As he forced himself out of the thoughts, he adjourned the meeting. The grumbling councilmen filed out quickly while Sokka watched his father frantically look around the room as if looking for something. Once Hakoda's eyes settled on his son, Sokka had saw that his deep blue eyes were wide with stress.

"My son," he began, "I must leave for Omashu the next morning. I have a task for you." Sokka stood up from his chair and straightened his back. "Your sister is locked in her room as punishment for breaking our traditions. I need you to watch her and make sure she doesn't know about any of this."

Sokka forgot about his manners for a moment and his mouth fell open at his father's words. "You locked my sister up?" he said with a strain.

"Sokka, please, I have other things to deal with." Hakoda turned to leave for the door but turned back around to his son. They held each others gaze for a moment, but it was like Sokka couldn't see the man who knew was his father. That man was hidden under wrinkly skin and sunken in eyes. Hakoda sighed and then he turned around to leave.

* * *

"Yue," Sokka said as he opened the door to her guest chambers. He left the war room soon after his father had and the only things that clouded his mind were Yue and his sister. He looked around the guest chambers, the servants flicking their eyes up awkwardly from their tasks to the unexpected entrance of the tribal prince. Clothes were strewn over the bed and cabinets, a traveling pack laid wide open on the floor of the room with very few items inside. Yue looked up from her desk and broke into a sad smile at the sight of her beloved. She dismissed the servants before leaping into his embrace and gracing his mouth with a hungry kiss.

They broke apart from the kiss and he noticed that her eyes were swollen and red. Her lovely features were stained with tears. He grazed his thumbs over her delicate cheeks, Yue laced her fingers around his wrists and leaned into his touch. "I have to leave," she whispered. Their foreheads met and leaned against each other as silent tears fell down from their eyes.

"No," Sokka cried. "No, don't leave me. We could fix this-"

Yue's fingers loosened around his wrist and intertwined around his middle, it silenced him immediately. She pulled him into another hungry kiss. His fingers caressed his smooth dark caramel skin before he tangled them into her snowy hair. She moaned into his mouth as he massaged her scalp.

The two walked backwards to the bed. Yue sat down, not breaking the kiss from Sokka until he reached for the hem of his tunic, took it off and threw it to the edge of the bed. "I smell really bad," he joked once he realized he hadn't bathed from the spar earlier.

Yue didn't smile or laugh at the joke. Instead she wrapped her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him close to her mouth again. "I don't care," she muttered in between kisses. She fell on to her back on the bed and waited for Sokka to crawl on top of her. But he drank in her sight.

Locks of white hair were strewn in a mess around her perfectly proportioned face. Her indigo dress framed her breasts in a sweetheart neckline and hugged every curve of her delicious body. The dress fell to the middle of her thigh as she bent her legs and parted them slightly. His pants uncomfortably tightened at the sight of the tribal princess in seductive manner.

He finally laid his body on top of hers, stroking her curves firmly with his hands. One hand touched her thigh as he slowly grazed it up her beautiful skin to where he felt the beginning of her wrappings.

The lovers entangled themselves into passionate throws. Both trying to keep their moans quiet as they devoured each other's bodies. They intertwined their hands into a firm embrace as they both laid together silently.

Sokka reached over to place a gentle kiss on her tender fingers. She smiled at his touch but her heart swelled in sadness as they realized their relationship had come to its end.

"I don't want you to go," Sokka muttered sleepily.

Yue scooted herself closer to the man she loved and took in the warmth of his body. "I know, my heart aches at the thought too," she said. Tears prickled on her cobalt eyes but she sucked them in. A sigh escaped Sokka's mouth when he began to gaze at her loving face. When she pressed her body against his, he felt arousal peak in his stomach. He pulled her in for another passionate kiss but was interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Princess?" a woman interrupted. The two lovers looked from the door to each other as they realized the time of their goodbyes had come. "Your father is waiting for you at the ports. A palanquin is set to go outside the palace."  
"Thank you," Yue called out. She laid back down on to the bed and placed a gentle kiss on her lover before swinging her legs to the side and crawled out from his embrace.

A couple days ago, he had watched her naked body in lust as she pulled on her robe. Now, as she pulled the indigo dress over her petite physique, all he could feel was his heart shattering in his chest. He had savored the sight of her; snowy tresses of hair, deep sapphire eyes he often got lost in, the way her mouth formed a moan as he made love to her in the nights they spent together.

A hot tear fell to his cheek as she bent down to pick up the pack of her belongings. She met his gaze one last time and studied every detail of his face. Grayish blue eyes, strong jaw, light caramel skin and the chocolate hair that now waterfalled over his features. His face was in deep longing as the words she uttered nights ago rang through his head.

In his heart he knew it was a lie. He would never make her a betrothal necklace. They would never dance on their wedding day, or have beautiful children or grow old together. Even if they would see each other again, it would be on opposing sides, as enemies. Sokka wanted to hold on to the hope that one day but knew that the hope he held on to was a lost cause. He buried his face into her pillow and smelled the rosy scent that radiated from the fluffy mass. He had never seen or smelled the flower but because of her, it was his favourite flower.

The words Yue uttered days ago rang through his mind like an annoying tune. It caused his chest to ache in ways he had never felt before. It played over and over again as he gripped on to the rose-scented pillow like it was the only thing that kept him from falling apart.

 _It's not like we'll never see each other again._

* * *

 _Two days ago_

The first few days after Yue left the Southern Water tribe, Sokka spent them with restless nights and a dull ache in his chest. He had spent them in the guest bedchamber she slept, trying to catch the rose scent. It made him feel pathetic that the only thing on his mind was Yue. From her deep, sapphire eyes to her long snowy locks to her smooth, silky deep caramel skin.

He tried busying himself with warrior training and while he was getting better at fighting with a boomerang and battle club, she didn't leave his mind. He also went to the war meetings but the tribe received no word from their chief. The council grew anxious thinking the mission wasn't successful. Even though the council members dare didn't express their fears in the meetings, they couldn't help but worry about the future of the tribe.

As the days went by, soldiers from the north that moved to the Southern Water tribe were called back home. Incoming shipments of imports from the north had been sent back. Soon the south started receiving ships of the soldiers in the north and the resources they had sent to their former ally, which wasn't much but hunting equipment and liquor.

Today, Ge had received a message from Chief Hakoda about the progress in Omashu. Sokka eagerly joined in earlier than last time and watched the Council of Elders file into the war room a few minutes later. Ge welcomed them with a warm smile that none returned except for young man sitting on his left. Once he sat down on the grand chair at the head of the table, a servant handed him the scroll he had already read earlier.

"We have received work from Chief Hakoda on the development of Omashu." Councilmen Ge said as he struggled to keep his anxiety in his stomach. The other council members shifted to where they could view Ge. Sokka, reminded of the beautiful princess again, glared down at his foot blankly as he listened to Ge's words.

Hakoda first wrote about the rioters who had killed two of his soldiers before he arrived. None of the rioters were willing to talk so the chief instructed them to use whatever means necessary to find out who killed the two soldiers and who had organized the riot. Sokka grimaced at this part, thinking whatever could his father mean, but brushed the dark thoughts aside once Ge continued.

As soon as the chief and his soldiers arrived, northern soldiers were immediately called back to the north. Even with the military force in Omashu severely reduced, everything has gone smoothly. Commander Zhao's troops threatened to break down the walls that surrounded the town but Hakoda had assured the council that he had everything under control.

The councilmen remained silent and then one murmured something to the other. Ge looked up from the slightly tattered scroll to send an anxious glance to the men. He turned his attention back to the message once they had stopped talking. There was nothing new except that one thing Hakoda had asked to only be told to Sokka and kept away from the council. Ge adjourned the meeting after an hour of talking about the mission of Omashu.

Sokka stood up to go back upstairs in the guest room and sulk but Ge called out his name. He turned to look at the kind old man holding the now wrinkled scroll. With a confused face, he walked back over to the man and sat down in his seat.

"What's wrong?" Sokka asked glancing down to the wrinkled scroll in Ge's hand.

"Your father wants you to be prepared for anything while he's gone. Even if I am the chief while he's gone, some are going to look to you for the next course of action." Sokka's confusion only grew as the councilman continued to talk. He had never pictured himself in a position where would look to him for what to do next. It made his chest tighten in anxiety thinking about it. "Because of that, your father thinks the avatar has returned."

"What?!" Sokka exclaimed, shooting up from his seat and backing away from the councilman. "That can't be. All the air nomads were killed years ago!"

"Your father says that you and your siblings discovered an air nomad in an iceberg?" Ge questioned.

Sokka was brought back to that moment a week ago where his sister held the unconscious boy in her arms. He admitted, while his family was arguing in the healing hut, he entertained the thought that maybe the air nomad they saved could have been the avatar but dismissed it. They wiped out a whole civilization, what were the chances that the one that survived was the avatar?

"That's impossible," Sokka whispered. Part of him doubted his father and what the councilmen was telling him. The avatar couldn't be alive, it was damn near impossible!

His mind went in a million different directions. If the boy they saved was the avatar, what would happen now once he learned the water tribes killed his people? Now would be the perfect time to attack the Southern Water tribe since more than half their troops were in the Earth Kingdom. The north wouldn't send aide, so if the avatar would attack, the tribe would be wiped out.

 _No,_ Sokka thought, _there had to be a way to insure the safety of the tribe._

"Did dad send any plans for us concerning the avatar's return?" Sokka asked hopefully. When the councilman shook his head, Sokka's shoulders slumped.

He had to think of something! Anything that could protect his family and tribe. Maybe he could convince the avatar to give protection to the south but how could you convince him? The Fire Nation mostly left the south alone after the north sent down supplies and men to stop the raids. But now with the support gone, the Fire Nation could start attacking again.

And then, he thought of an idea. A stupid, reckless idea that could endanger his tribe but if it was successful, it could strengthen them. He gave the councilman a reassuring smile and thanked him for telling him about the news. As he exited the war room, he walked up the stairs to the second floor where his room was. He saw men with spears guarding Katara's room. They told each other raunchy jokes and snickered quietly. When they saw the tribal prince enter the hallway to make his way to his room, they quieted and averted their eyes to the white wall in front of them.

Sokka smirked as he entered his room. He just hoped this reckless idea of his wouldn't backfire.

* * *

 _Present_

The guards to Katara's room changed shifts every four hours. It was exactly three minutes before the new pair of guards would show up for their shift. Sokka waited behind his bedchamber's door with his trusty boomerang held tightly in his fingers. A satchel filled with as much supplies as he could find rested on his hip. He hoped it would a good while before he needed to restock.

He laid on the cold ground with his eyes glued in the space between the door and floor as he waited for the rambunctious guards to leave. It would be any minute now before they would leave for a shift change.

His eyes were heavy, his body was sore from today's training. Maybe tonight wasn't the best night to act out his poorly constructed plan but he knew that if not tonight, it would never happen.

Four shadows crossed his vision, he widened his eyes as he watched black boots stomp on the ground. He waited for the sound of the footsteps to disappear before he got up with a soft groan from the ground. He stretched out his back, grunted when it cracked in the middle, and then opened the door enough to where he was still hidden but could see almost every angle of the hallway.

As he peered around the corridor, the light of the torches danced on his skin. He looked around the wide hallway and saw no guards present. He slipped out into the hallway, keeping his back pressed against the cool surface of the wall and made his way to the now vacant door. He bent down on one knee and jimmied a silver pick into the lock. He turned it around until he heard the click. Once he heard the soft sound, he slid in a tension wrench and did the same.

Before he could get the door open however, footsteps reached his ears. He snapped his head in time to see a soldier come around the corner.

"What are you doing?" the man shouted at the tribal prince. Sokka shot up to stand in front of the man. He reached behind his back where his boomerang rested in its holster. He launched forward once the weapon was held tightly in his hand. The man reached for his sheathed sword resting at his hip but before he could free it, Sokka hit him on the head with the dull side of his weapon.

The man fell in a heap to the floor. Sokka watched him for a moment to make sure he wasn't moving before peering out in to the hallway to see if there was any more guards were coming. Once he was semi confident no one else was coming, he returned to the doorknob were the pick and tension wrench laid in the slit of the door knob. He took a hold of the tools and continued to wiggle them until he heard the soft click.

With a satisfied smile, he took the tools out of the lock, got up from the floor and slowly turned the knob of the door.

He opened the door and saw his sister staring at him with confusion. He tried to contain his smile at seeing her safe and sound. Her chocolate hair was pulled back in a braid and all she wore were black sleeping attire. He saw that her feet were bare and he wondered how she could handle the cold floor. As he stepped forward into her room, her body relaxed. She rose out of the stance and a relieved and hopeful smile spread across her face.

"Sokka."

* * *

 _Thanks for reading!_


	5. Chapter 5

_AN: Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter five

Sokka stood in front of the doorway illuminated by fire-lit sconces that lined the walls behind him. He watched as Katara's shoulders relaxed and her face filled with a wide smile. Relief flooded his heart as her body came crashing into his and her lean arms embraced him. Her eyes were closed and she smiled delightedly as Sokka anxiously returned her hug. He wrapped his arms around his sister and buried his smile into the mess of chocolate hair.

The embrace was short and sweet and soon enough, Katara was staring up at him with wide blue eyes filled with hope. "What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

And his smile fell because how was he supposed to answer? Everything that had happened in the past couple days had been a lot for him to process. He couldn't imagine how hard it would be for her process in the little time they had.

"We don't have time for me to explain everything," he said quickly. He shuffled over to the large window overlooking the city. _I should have thought this more through,_ he thought.

His eyes frantically searched for an answer in the night but everything seemed so risky. Maybe he should have just left without her but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he did that. She would be stranded in the palace forced to pop out Yao's kids and be surrounded by snobby noblewomen. That was a fate worse than death.

"Sokka."

He turned around to meet her gaze filled with desperation and confusion. Her stormy eyes searched his but he remained frozen in the room. This was such a terrible idea.

"Listen, I had a plan, alright? I was going to bust us out of here and we were going to go look for the avatar -oh, yeah! He's back by the way!- but I can't figure out how to get us out of this damned room!" he shouted. He wanted to throw something, a vase or something else that was fragile. Anything to let out the agitation he felt.

Katara noticed this and rushed over to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked down at her and expected to feel better but he didn't. He just felt more hurt and more irritation. How could she look so much like their mother? It seemed damn near impossible!

"I might have a way out of here," she said and his face lit up. She held up a finger meaning to quiet down his relief. " _But_ it is possible it won't work in the slightest and will probably get us thrown in the dungeons."

"Well," he began, "we are basically screwed anyway, so why not screw us even more. Let me hear this plan of yours."

A mischievous smile enveloped her face and he nearly laughed because it felt good to do something troublesome with his sister. They missed out on so much over the years and it wasn't like he didn't want to be close with her. It was just every time he looked at her, he was reminded of _that_ day.

"Ever since I was locked up in here, I imagined melting the snow below my window into water, breaking the window, and then riding the wave to the ports."

Sokka had his chin resting in his hand with a finger tapping his lower lip. Oh gods they were so screwed. "That will never work. There's archers on the roofs, they'll shoot us down or bloodbend us back to the palace, or just bend the wave back. And even if it did work, what would we do when we get to the ports? We need to think of a better plan."

"Well, if you can think of a better one, lemme know!" she retorted placing her hands on her hips.

He scoffed at her and paced the room until an even dumber and potentially riskier plan bloomed in his head. "OK I got one, but we need to get that guard in here."

Sokka opened her bedchambers door slightly and peered out into the hallway. Some of the sconces were starting to go out so the hallway was dimmer. He looked over to where the unconscious guard was lying sprawled out on to the ground. No one had discovered him yet. Thank Tui and La.

He motioned for Katara to follow him as he slipped out the door. He missed her delighted smile as she was finally out of her room and in a new environment for a moment. Sokka flattened his back against the wall and peered into the now dimly lit hallway. No one.

"Alright, grab some ankle." The siblings bent down and gripped onto the bulky, hairy ankles and began pulling the guard towards Katara's bedchambers. He was heavy and hard to pull. Sokka hunched his shoulders and bit the inside of his lip They were both hunched over and breathing heavily when the man was safely pulled inside.

"Alright, enough with the suspense, what's your plan on escape?"

A smile, that kind you get when you're about to do something worth getting in trouble for, was planted on his face. "Alright, so I say we wait for the next round of guards to come in, knock them out, steal their uniforms and get out of here."

He waited for her declaration of how fantastic his plan was but she stared at him with an _are you kidding me?_ expression on her face. "That's worse than my plan, Sokka."

An exasperated groan slipped through his mouth. "You are so frustrating, you know that?"

"Oh, I'm frustrating! You have the worst ideas ever," she huffed crossing her arms over her chest.

"OK, fine. We will come up with something better," he said gazing out into the rising sun of the early morning. The pitch-black sky starting forming into neon pinks and oranges and the clouds glowed with soft yellows and white. "We need to hurry."

He looked over to his sister who was watching the unconscious man with an intense thoughtful stare. "I got an idea." She bent over the man and began stripping him of armor -first with his helmet that was molded with a wolf skull, then the weapons and finally his body armor.

His forehead was cinched with worry and confusion. "What are you doing?" he questioned, half frantically.

She didn't answer but kept at carefully taking his armor until he was down to his undergarments. "I am going to disguise myself as a guard and I'm going to arrest you for stealing my jewelry."

"You're going to arrest me? I can't go to jail, I'll be killed by the end of the day!"

"Well if you would shut your mouth and _think about what you say for once,_ you wouldn't have that problem," she huffed putting on the armor.

He glared at her as she stared to put on the final pieces of the armor, and then the weapons. They looked heavy but were magnificent craftsmanship. The man carried a crossbow with arrows made of stone and bone and throwing knives made of steel. The only fighting weapon he had was a scimitar that desperately needed to be traded in for something better.

"The helmet doesn't have a mask, they can tell you're the princess," he pointed out,

She tapped the helmet in between her hands for a moment before setting it on her bed and pinning her braid up into a bun. "Well, I'll keep my head down then."

He shook his head. "That won't work." He searched around her vanity and looked for something that could be the answer but found nothing. He turned around to keep searching only to find her standing in front of her now open closet playing with a black dress.

Katara looked out of place in the armor. Almost like a child playing dress up. The armor was too big for her body and her arms stood out like limp noodles. She stuck out like a sore thumb.

She jerked her hands with the dress and Sokka heard a loud rip echo throughout the room. She turned around with a long piece of black fabric from the dress. Her other hand gripped the other end of the fabric and tied it around the back of her head.

It worked, somewhat. With her helmet on, she looked like one of the guards but without it, she was too girlish. Maybe this could work.

"Alright, good thinking -but you need to deepen your voice. Let me hear you sound manly."

"Um…. OK?" she said in a slightly deeper voice but not deep enough.

"Tsk, tsk, not manly enough. Manlier!" he shouted.

"That was manly enough. What do you know anyway? Your voice still cracks!"

"Katara," he whispered slapping his hands together.

"Oh gods," she groaned rolling her eyes. "Is this manly enough?" she asked in finally a perfectly deep voice.

He smiled with satisfaction. "Perfect, off you go." He placed his hands behind his head and plopped himself on her bed, settling himself into the soft mattress, hoping to get a moment of shut-eye but was interrupted when a hand clashed with his shoulder.

"Sokka, you can't sleep when you need to be watching him," she said pointing to the unconscious guard.

"Well, how long are you going to be gone?" he whined.

Emotion shifted on her face and her expression became solemn and serious. "I need to do something before we leave."

* * *

Katara slipped out of her room. The armor seemed like it added another thirty pounds to her body and she was struggling to keep her posture straight. Shuffling footsteps got louder and louder down the hall as she began to leave the door to her room.

She kept her head down and avoided their suspicious gazes and prayed to Tui and La they wouldn't go in her room and that the guard wouldn't wake up.

She made her way through what seemed like endless halls and down the stairs on to the first floor. The only people who seemed to be up at the crack of dawn were the kitchen staff and the guards from the night shift. Someone came out of the kitchen and the smell of sea prunes in fish broth wafted out and into her nose. She sighed happily and gripped her stomach when hunger pains started becoming apparent.

Thankfully, none of the guards stopped her or talked to her as she hurried herself away from the usual busy part of the first floor and made her way to the back part where no one was allowed except for guards and royal family.

This part of the palace was littered with windows that let in the sun's light and was decorated with intricate paintings of ancient folklore of her tribe that were plastered on to the ceiling. The room was heavily protected, every few feet there was a guard standing perfectly still and armed with a spear. Katara walked with purpose and tried imitating the march the guards did around the palace.

It was failing miserably because she could see the guards furrow their brows and eye her suspiciously. She nearly made it out of the room when one of the guards stopped her.

"Your march is god-awful," he spat.

She refrained from looking at him. "Sorry, sir," she said with an awfully fake deep voice. Clearing her voice, she tried speaking again, "I'll do better."

She started walked again but a hand slapped on her shoulder turned her around forcefully. She tried not to shriek from the scare the man gave her. Katara finally looked up to him. Two dark chocolate braids hung loose from his wolf helmet. Dark steel gray irises stared down at her from deep skinned lids. Wrinkles creased his face heavily around his eyes and mouth. His face was remained in a scowl.

"You a recruit?" he asked.

"Yes sir."

"No wonder your march is awful. Let me show you, walk like you're happy to be alive and keep your damn shoulders back -no, oh La, that's terrible! How did you make it past training? Do it again. There you go!" He slapped her hard against the back of her shoulder and sent her off. He returned back to his position, going back to being stoic.

She scowled in annoyance and opened the door that led to a flight of stairs. Even though the man annoyed her, she took his advice and surprisingly felt more confident in her idiotic plan. As she made her way down she only hoped Sokka hadn't completely blown their plan by falling asleep or being the idiot he is.

She could just imagine them both ending up in the dungeons after this.

The palace was kept perfectly warm but as she started descending, the air grew colder and colder. Almost to the point where she felt no difference between in here and being kept outside.

She had to start rubbing her arms to retain some body heat but it didn't really work. Did her father really keep the prisoners down here in this temperature? How did they even survive? She knew the dungeons were awful but she didn't think they would actually make it worse than she thought.

As she got closer, wails from the prisoners reached her ears. She didn't know if they were from sorrow or pain. When she finally reached her destination, she entered a small room that had a doorway on one of the walls. Two guards were asleep on stools leaning against the wall. Here the screams of the prisoners were louder and heart wrenching. How could they just sleep through it?

She wanted to wake them up and scold them for being heartless but it was best they didn't know she was here. So, she ignored her anger towards the guards and made her way out of the room except she couldn't. Beyond the room the two guards were sleeping in, was complete darkness. There seemed to be no sconces or fireplaces lit.

She searched the room with the two sleeping guards and found an unlit torch leaning against the wall. She picked it up in her hand and held it over one of the sconces to light it, peering over to the two guards periodically to make sure they didn't awake.

With the lit torch, she made her way to the doorway only to find even more stairs. How deep did these go? Could it get even colder down there? She shuddered at the thought. No way did her father know what their guards were doing to these prisoners down here. No way in hell he was this cruel.

The descent down wasn't long, and soon her foot met solid ground but it didn't make her feel any better. The smell was awful. It was like death and feces had joined forces and made a full attack on her nose. The cloth around Katara's nose didn't help much to keep the stench away. The temperature was cold, but no different than it was up there. The sounds were a combination of eerie mumbling of old Water Tribe songs that she remembered her mother and Gran-Gran used to hum, distant dripping, and moans of the prisoners.

She tried keeping herself composed like a typical guard so she wouldn't give arise to suspicion and keep focused on her mission.

The dungeon walls had cells filled with multiple prisoners. Some were at full capacity and others were about to reach their full capacity. As she brought the torch close to the cell doors so she could see who was inside, the prisoners would spit at her and yell a string of cursers at her. She'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt even if they weren't aimed at _her_.

The prisoners looked the same for the most part. Each one was dangerously skinny with stringy greasy hair. Some had sores that decorated their skin which was paler than she had ever seen. They wore makeshift coats and pants that looked to be fashioned out of blankets and various fabrics. They were shivering and huddled close together so they could conserve body heat.

This was too much. It was just too fucking much.

In the third cell, she finally found the person she was looking for. Her dress robes were torn and dirty, and her cheeks were starting to become hollow. Finn was exaggerating somewhat on how bad she looked.

When Hama noticed the guard that hung their hands on the railing of the cell door, she became curious to see why the guard was staring directly at her. But once she was staring into those eyes that reminded her of the color of the ocean during a storm, her breath hitched.

"Katara?" she said shakily taking ahold of the guard's hand that was gripping the railing. Katara wrapped her hand around Hama's.

The old teacher's hand was so small, smaller than she remembered. Her fingers were thin and delicate but she saw what her hands could do. Their looks were deceiving.

"Hama," Katara breathed out.

"What are you doing here? And dressed like _that?"_

Katara nearly laughed even though the situation they were in was an awful one to laugh in. "I'm leaving the palace and I want you to come with me."

The fire illuminated the woman's gray eyes that had abandoned hope and the frown on her face. Katara's heart sank when she retracted her hand to play with a strand of loose thread on her clothes.

"I-I can't."

"What? Why?" Katara cried. Some of the prisoners were watching their tearful reunion, but none seemed to care. She thought briefly of how broken they must have been to not show any emotion.

"My dear," she said solemnly, "I would only slow you down, you need to do this on your own."

Katara backed up and clenched her free hand toward her chest. "No, Hama, you can't lose hope like this. We can get out of here and we can" -she looked over to make sure no one was in hearing range –"Hama, the avatar has returned."

Hama smiled at the girl and reached with her hand to stroke her tear stained cheek. "This is not my adventure to take."

Tears leaked from their eyes. Katara's heart shattered through her chest and she could feel her knees buckle underneath her. She didn't want to believe it, or accept what Hama was telling her. The avatar was back, Aang. That dumb kid could save the damn world so why wasn't she leaping at the chance to find him again?

Katara's cheek grew cold and then she realized that Hama had removed her hand from her cheek and was digging through a raggedy pocket. "I have something for you." Katara eyed her closed fist and watched it unfurl to reveal a blue necklace. A betrothal necklace.

"Wha-"

"This was your Gran-Gran's and eventually your mother's betrothal necklace," she said simply. "Before Kya died she gave your Gran-Gran, Kanna, this necklace back because there were thefts going around in the palace. Kanna entrusted it in me. I would have given it back-" she broke out into a soft, short sob before grabbing Katara's hand and shoving the necklace into her hand. "Take it and get out of here before I bloodbend your ass out."

In those seconds before she stormed out of the dungeons, Katara memorized Hama's face. Eyes like metal that were trapped in wrinkled eyelids. Light gray hair that was once neat and coiffed but now was in a messy, greasy bun on top of her bed. Torn, raggedy clothes. Tear streaked face.

And then she ran.

* * *

Sokka waited patiently sprawled out on his sister's bed and staring at the ceiling. Periodically looking over to the side where he had dragged the unconscious guard so he could lay down while his sister was doing whatever she was doing.

Where was Katara? The sun had formed into a half circle on the horizon. The town had begun to grow busy with the bustle of people. Once the day got started, it would be harder to escape for the two of them.

Before, the sky looked like someone grabbed pots of yellow, pink and orange paint and splattering it all over. Now as the sun got higher into the sky, it was a stark white with dozens and dozens of fluffy clouds that reminded him of cotton. Were sunrises like this everywhere? Would the people in the Earth Kingdom, even the Fire Nation, be mesmerized by the sunrise right now? Well, maybe not the Fire Nation because of time zones. But still, would the sunrises always be this beautiful?

His mind drifted to forbidden territory -Yue. Was she watching the sunrise like he was? Or was she being chased by suitors? The latter, most likely. Sokka gritted his teeth and clenched his jaw.

Oh Tui, he was getting jealous over an assumption? A damn assumption? He shook his head as if that would make the jealousy he felt disappear but it didn't work. Nothing worked. In fact, he was more in love with her than he had ever been in the entirety of their relationship.

But it was useless because their relationship was basically dead now. They would never see each other again unless the North and South repaired their relationship. That was impossible with Taza as the future chief.

Tears prickled his eyes but he resisted the urge to let them fall. He had been too emotional ever since she left. The constant crying and pining over her absence wasn't like him. He was a warrior for La's-sakes! A man. Men weren't supposed to cry.

There was a distant argument outside the door. One guard was yelling to the others about "something fell something something something." The rest of the conversation was the two guards who must've showed up for their shift bellow out a "yes sir" in frantic tones. Sokka shot up straight in the bed and hysterically looked between the jiggling knob and the unconscious man on the floor next to him.

He swung his legs over and landed on his stomach -hard. With a coughing fit, he pushed himself off the carpeted floor to grab the man's ankles and pull him into the bathroom.

"Sokka, what the hell are you doing?" a familiar voice said.

He sighed in relief. "Gods, Katara, you were about to give me a heart attack."

She made a deep, silent sigh and slid the helmet off her head to place on the bed. In her arms, was a black heavy looking bag.

"What happened to you arresting me?"

"Change of plans, get dressed." Katara threw the bag effortlessly on the bed and walked away so he could look in only to find it was filled with armor and weapons.

"How'd you sneak past?" he asked peering over his shoulder.

"Yelling," she said simply.

He looked over at her to say thank you, but noticed her red rimmed and puffy eyes. He wanted to reach out and pull her into a hug but she walked away before he could react.

"Get dressed. And hurry." She walked over to her vanity, fiddling something blue in her hands. An awkward, tension filled silence filled the room as he pulled out the armor and placed the pieces on one at a time.

"We need to be cautious," he warned. "Two guards walking with packs filled with survival supplies are going to look suspicious."

Katara didn't respond. Instead she threw something on the ground in a flurry of anger and stomped on it until whatever it was, was nothing but shattered pieces of sapphire and a crumpled blue ribbon. She was breathing heavily while staring down at the shattered pieces.

Sokka watched her gulp and then meet his eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled. His eyes flicked to her neck only to see something, a new betrothal necklace, that was familiar to him but he couldn't place where he knew it from. It was like trying to remember something from a dream.

"We need to move," she spoke before he could ask her where she got the betrothal necklace from. With one last look at the shattered sapphire pieces, he followed her to the door out of the room.

They both carried packs that were big enough to carry only the essentials. The siblings didn't look anything like typical guards so they tried avoiding anywhere they knew was a crowd. Which meant going out the front door was a definite no-no.

After a few minutes, they found a hallway that was completely devoid of people. It looked to be an abandoned floor in the castle but with torn curtains and scattered papers. Sokka didn't pay much attention to the room so he treaded on until they were out and down another hallway that took them out to a place he didn't recognize.

"Do you know where we are going?" he whispered to his sister that was leading them through the maze of unfamiliar hallways.

"Of course."

"How?"

"Well while dad was training you and Taza in the art of being a warrior, I was busy with mom exploring the palace," she said. "This hallway leads out the back of the palace, which leads to an exit where no guards or people go because it pretty well hidden in this abandoned courtyard."

"Why is it abandoned?"

She was quiet for a moment, just moving like a mouse-cat through the hallways. They reached a window that overlooked the courtyard. But it wasn't a courtyard. It was so much worse.

"A cemetery."

Katara waved her hand in the air. "Well, kinda. More like a memorial place for the soldiers who died in the beginnings of the war."

A shudder went down his spine staring down at the cemetery -oh wait, no. Memorial place. Doesn't matter, still made the hair on his arms stand up. "Do we have to go through here?"

Katara scoffed and threw her head back. "Don't be such a wimp. Thought you were a man."

He glared down at her before responding. "I am a man."

"Great! Prove it," she dared, walking off to a stairwell that led straight down to the memorial place. He followed her, casually throwing daggers at her back with his stare.

The place wasn't a cemetery, but it had the same vibe. Sokka was never one for spirits and the spirit world, since it all was a bunch of buffoonery anyway. But this place made him believe for a second that ghosts of dead soldiers were watching him and his sister.

They passed monuments made from ice that was worn down by erosion. Each monument was a slab of ice that stood on top of a pillar of ice; a name, dates and a quote was engraved in each one. He quickly guessed the dates were a birthdate and a death date, but what made his heart sink was how close each date was. Some were twenty or eighteen years apart, others were larger that he didn't have the time to figure out, a few were twelve or ten years apart.

"Here we are." Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts. In front of her was the North port, only used for extreme situations, like a threat on the royal family.

"There's only flagships here, Katara," he said disheartened. "Neither of us knows how to sail one."

"I know," she began, "but on the flagships are canoes for shipwrecks and the like."

He smiled down at her. "My my, what a rebel you have become."

She seemed to be delighted at this since she practically skipped down to a dock and up the ramp of a flagship. "I can't wait to ditch this uniform," Katara said as she made her way to the opposite side of the ship.

It was large, made of reinforced metal. Father told him that most of their ships were imported from the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation. More like stolen from the two nations, but Sokka dare not say that to his father.

"Look!" Sokka walked over to her side to see Katara pointing down to a canoe that was better made than the canoes he had ever seen. It was tied by rope and what looked like a conveyor type of mechanism. He pulled on some loose rope and watched the canoe rise with the motion. Smiling, he looked over to his sister who was now away from him, staring at the palace.

From here, it looked gigantic and overdone. Like, it was too much for a family of four to live in. There were too many extravagant rooms that were left untouched and empty. The servants, even though kind, looked dead inside and were just looking for an out. No matter what the out was.

The palace was just one big empty building with too many rooms.

"Can you tell me why we are leaving now?" she asked him fiddling with the sapphire pendant.

He breathed in the frigid air and then let it out in one steady exhale. "Come on, after we get on the canoe, I will."

Katara nodded and followed over to where the canoe was hanging on to rope. He pulled on the loose rope that brought it up closer to them and once it was close enough, Katara crawled over the railing of the ship and in to the canoe.

Her added weight made it harder for him to keep the boat steady but he tried his best. She noticed this and grabbed on to the rope and held it in place until he did the same as her and got into the canoe.

"Gimme," he mumbled reaching out for the rope. Their weights made it so much more difficult for him to slowly descend onto the ocean instead of crashing straight down to the surface.

He could already hear his sister grunting quietly and the clanging and squeaks of her shoving the armor roughly off her body and throwing it into the sea. They stayed unmoving in the sea.

They landed somewhat gently onto the water but before he could get the paddles out to start rowing, the canoe was already moving. Katara was kneeling in front of him and making the water move the canoe in a rushed fashion. Instead of scolding her, he just watched the palace, their home, grow smaller and smaller in the distance until it was nothing more than a speck of white in the horizon.

"Alright. Tell me everything."

* * *

"Oh my gods," she said pinching the skin of her forehead.

Sokka twirled a piece of seal jerky that he found in a pack on the canoe. Apparently, the canoes come supplied with emergency supplies like food, canteens, spark rocks, blankets and a map.

He sat down at the other side of the canoe watching his sister take in all the information he just told her about what has happened in the past week. She looked disgruntled and speechless. _Understandable,_ he thought.

"The United Tribe -It's just gone. I can't believe Chief Arnook would put our nation in danger like this."

"That's why we need to find the avatar."

She looked up to meet his gaze, she was uneasy and nervous.

"What?"

"Um," she began pinching the skin on the heel of her hand, "I've already met the avatar."

If he was anywhere else, anywhere he could stand up in disbelief and make his sister tell him everything, he would've. But the canoe was unstable and he didn't want to fall in the freezing water, so he straightened his back and sat up.

"What? And you never even told me? This could save our tribe!"

Her brows furrowed in frustration. "Why would I tell you when you pushed me away after mom died!" she retorted.

His mouth hung open ready to yell something back but she looked on the verge of tears. So instead he fell back against the pointed end of the canoe and crossed his arms. They sat in silence, trying to not to meet each other's gazes but periodically looked over to check on the other.

Sokka didn't realize that's what he was doing, nor did he want to do that. But his mother dying crushed him, how she died made his body feel like someone was stabbing him in the chest repeatedly. And seeing Katara after was just…. It was everything times a hundred.

"You're just like her."

"What?" she hissed, her voice cracking.

Both were teary eyed and exhausted but the stabbing in his chest wouldn't go away so he might as well go with it.

"Mom. You're just like her," he repeated.

"So?"

"Katara it's-" He had to pause for a moment and collect his thoughts before he broke down in front of her. Taza always said he acted too much like a girl to be an actual warrior. "Seeing you is hard, alright? You look just like her, you talk like her, you act like her. And I hate it because every time I look at you, all I am reminded of is that day we saw her burnt _fucking_ body."

He really tried to keep the tears from shedding but he was fighting a losing battle. They flowed out one by one, making his cheeks wet and cold. The jerky he was eating was nothing more than crumbles of dried meat.

Sokka refused to look at her but that didn't stop Katara from staring him down. She seemed shocked by this new information since she thought she was the only one affected by their mother's death. Taza was emotionless, like always, and her father was too busy trying to win this war for him to show any grief.

Instead of meeting his sister's gaze, he elected to stare out at the midnight sky. Well, it could have been midnight. He didn't know. The moon was a sliver of white in the sky and the stars that surrounded it were like white splattered paint. But they gleamed and twinkled more than paint.

"We need to get some sleep," he finally said. "Especially you. You've been working hard today. We need to put some distance between the palace and us. They've probably sent out search parties already."

There was silence and then she said 'OK' meekly before he felt a shifting in the canoe. He looked over to where she was laying in the fetal position with her eyes wide open and staring out at sea. It was big enough for them to both lay semi-comfortably without touching each other but she made sure they had no physical contact whatsoever. Not even a brush of her leg against his.

With a sigh, he sat up and grabbed a wooden paddle from his side. Pulled it out and plunged it into the water, rowing back and forth. He kept at it for hours until he couldn't. Sokka slumped up against the side of the canoe and fell asleep as well.

* * *

When he came too, everything was groggy and silent. It seemed peaceful and the gentle rocking of the boat almost lulled him back to sleep until a splash of frigid water hit him square in the face.

"What the fu-" he tried yelling at his sister but was interrupted. The canoe wasn't gently rocking but violently whipping back and forth by giant waves. Thunder and lightning vibrated the canoe, causing him to almost jump out of his skin. Katara was swinging her arm in windmill motions to incase them in a ball of ice.

Heavy rain pelted the ice, making the only sounds being muffled thunder and splashes of rain. Sokka quickly grabbed the paddle but realized that would be useless since they were entrapped in a giant ball of ice.

"Took you long enough!" Katara shouted over the noise. "I've been trying to wake you up for an hour!"

"Guess I'm a heavy sleeper." She groaned in frustration. "What do you want me to do?"

"Just hold on!" she shouted but before he could grab on to something he was pushed backwards. Katara was bending a surge of water to move the ball of ice into the eye of the storm.

He tried looking out to see where she was taking them but he couldn't see anything, the ice was too thick.

"How can you see anything?"

"I can't!"

"Wha-" A lightning strike hit the ice prison and almost shattered it into millions of pieces. The siblings ducked from the loud sound, causing them to stop in the middle of the ocean. "We have to keep going!" he shouted but his sister looked worn out. She was hunched over breathing heavily, pleading for him to take over.

Before they could do anything, another lightning strike hit the ice prison, causing it to break apart and leaving them exposed. "Fuck the universe," he mumbled under his breath as he grabbed the paddle. He rowed as fast as he could but it seemed futile since the eye looked too far away. It was like one of those dreams you're in a hallway and at the end of it was something you really wanted, but as you got closer, the hallway got longer and longer. Plunging you into a never-ending loop of running through a hallway.

That was what it seemed like. As they got closer to the eye, it seemed like the distance between them and the eye got longer and further away.

"Sokka, look!" Katara shouted, pointing over to a flagship headed for the eye as well. He grew hopeful until he saw the markings of the Fire Nation emblem on the side of the ship. But maybe they could sneak on as stowaways and leave when the ship docked somewhere. It seemed like a good plan and the storm made for a pretty good distraction. But just as he was about to paddle over to the flagship, a lightning strike shot down and made the engine explode. Debris and black specks that could only be people were thrown into the water.

Just like that, the flagship was caught on fire and it floated along the water with flames raging. Huh, a Fire Nation ship caught on fire. It would be amusing if something didn't crash down on top of the siblings canoe, making everything go black.

* * *

 _AN: So I've been in college and dealing with a lot financial issues that still aren't solved quite yet. Anyway, I haven't given up on this story and I'm warning you that this story will start becoming more adult in the next coming chapters. I won't be giving out character ages now, and they have all been changed to over the age of 18. I have up to chapter 9 written so far so get ready for a lot of twists and turns. I have another fanfic that I am writing coming out soon and I have an original story I will start posting soon on fictionpress. Anyways, thanks for reading and have a good day!_


	6. Chapter 6

_AN: The Fire Nation ship that Sokka and Katara saw last chapter was not Zuko's._

* * *

Chapter six

 _Agni,_ he thought. The ocean was spinning, the world was spinning, everything was spinning. What was with all this spinning?

His ribs were aching as he hung over the metal railing of the flagship. Bile lingered in the back of his throat like a bad aftertaste. He just wanted to be off this dammed ship. How long until they reached the South Pole? They had been traveling for a week! Maybe a few more days?

"What are you doing?" a voice said behind him. Zuko twisted his neck to see the raven-haired girl glaring down at him with her arms crossed across her stomach. Zai. Her black hair was pulled back into a loose braid with stray pieces of hair kissing her face as it moves with the wind, wearing a tight crimson shirt that showed off her arms and loose, black pants.

"Nothing," he snarled as he rushed to pull himself back up from the rail. Bad idea, a very, very bad idea. Immediately, he flung himself half over the rail and upchucked the last remaining contents of his stomach into the ocean. He stayed in that position breathing heavily with drool dripping down from his mouth until he realized who was watching him.

Embarrassed, he wiped his mouth and looked over to see her expression. She looked annoyed, with one eyebrow raised and her lips pursed together. "You don't sail much, do you?" she asked.

He pulled himself up again, slower than before. "I sail plenty," he mumbled as planted his feet firmly against the floor of the ship.

"Looks like it," she replied.

He started walking away from her but she followed after him. Annoyed, he kept a steady pace as she struggled to keep up with him.

"How far away are we from the South Pole?"

"I have heard the crew say a couple weeks," Zai says from behind him.

He suppressed a groan as they walked to the front of the boat where everyone else was gathered. Iroh and Mea were battling it out in a game of pai sho. Tado, Chee and a couple of servants spoke quietly close to the bow. Zai joined Aden, who was drinking from a silver flask. She stole the flask from his hands and promptly emptied its contents into her mouth.

"Nephew!" Iroh cheered when he noticed him. "Come, come. I think I found someone even worse at pai sho than you."

"Shove it up, old man," Mea mumbled studying the tiles on the board and drinking something black and hot from a red tea cup.

Zuko walked over to the two and looked down at the board game. Uncle was right. Zuko might have very little knowledge in pai sho but Mea was definitely losing. "Why are you guys playing a stupid board game when we still have to come up with a plan?" he hissed at the two.

"You're distracting me, Prince Zuko," Mea said.

Iroh chuckled as he brought the tea cup up closer to his lips and took a sip. "Give up, I got you trapped. You're going to lose."

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "Uncle, don't you think we have played around enough? We need to get serious! We are a couple weeks away from the South Pole and we need to come up with a plan."

"Just..two more…minutes," he whispered as Mea finally decided on a tile to move. "Bad choice," he murmured as he moved the white lotus tile across the board in a ziq-zag motion. "I win, again," he bragged, holding out a hand to Mea. Zuko looked over at the soldier to see she had a sour face.

"I hate you," she said slapping a couple tea bags into his palm.

"Uncle," Zuko whispered in a frustrated tone. "You bet on tea bags?"

"Not just any tea bags," he replied, holding out his hands to show Zuko the bags. Zuko tilted his head to look at them and was immediately alarmed.

"Uncle! Those are illegal," he said in a rushed tone. The tea bags were made from a brew of cactus juice and angel trumpet flowers. Both were outlawed as hallucinogenic drugs a long time ago.

"Don't be such a priss, Prince Zuko," Zai said from behind him.

"You know better than to address your prince like that," he snarled back to her. Zai didn't respond but instead raised a brow, as if to say _you're kidding me, right?_

He let out another exasperated groan. Everyone had been messing around for the past week with their games and bets but there could be no more of it. Not if he could help it. They needed to get serious from now on. This mission could mean much for the Fire Nation if his father's suspicions about the avatar returning were right.

"Oh Agni," he muttered before addressing his uncle in a steady, louder voice, "Gather everyone into war room immediately. We need to construct a plan for our arrival at the South Pole."

* * *

It took a few minutes before everyone filed into the room and sat at their seats at a small steel table that was bolted to the ground. It was a daft, boring room with Fire Nation propaganda littering the walls. Even Zuko had to admit it was a little too much.

Mea, Tado, Chee and Iroh happily chatted amongst themselves quietly while Zuko unfurled a map of the world on the table. Zai was once again lecturing Aden on his drinking.

"Shove it up your ass, Zai. I can drink if I fucking want to," he slurred, reaching to take the flask from Zai who had her arm outstretched, keeping the flask out of his reach.

"You're already drunk, loser. You don't need to drink anymore. Plus, you're working," she replied.

"That's where you're wrong, kiddo. Right now, I am just sitting on my tight little ass while old princey here is playing with some action figures."

Zuko looked up from placing the figurines that were supposed to resemble his flagship and the southern division of the United Tribe's navy that were probably patrolling the waters around the South Pole. "You will show respect to your prince, soldier," Zuko spat.

"You sure know how to ruin a good buzz, my man," Aden mumbled under his breath.

Zuko was at his wit's end. Surely, please almighty Agni, his father mixed up the files of some decent soldiers when he assigned Zuko on this mission. Mea, Tado and Chee were fantastic, perfect examples of what a soldier should be. But Zai and Aden. Dear gods, they were infuriating. Overconfident drunks who joked around too much to be actual, perfect soldiers.

"Aden, if you don't shut up, _I'll_ start ruining your buzzes," Chee hissed to him.

Aden rolled his eyes to his sister's threat. "Willy do, dear sister."

"Let's continue, please," Zuko said through clenched teeth. If he were to die prematurely, he was damn sure Aden would be the cause of it.

"Hey, yo prince!" Aden shouted, raising his hand like he was a kid in class. "I got a question before we begin."

"What?" Zuko said infuriatingly.

"So, what is the real reason we are heading to the South Pole?" He asked innocently.

Zuko shot Iroh a look, pleading for him to help him out on this, but Iroh kept his eyes fixated on the tea cup in front of him. Dammit, he had to do this on his own. "We are there to gather information, soldier," Zuko said hesitantly. He never told the crew about the true nature of the mission. His father had warned to be careful who he trusted on this mission, and the prince wasn't exactly sure if he trusted anybody on the Agni-forsaken ship, besides his uncle.

Aden got into a thinking position, with his finger resting on his top lip, hunched over with his elbow resting on his knee. "Hmm, I see. But why would they send you? I can get Old Dragon here," he began, slapping a hand on Iroh's shoulder blade, making the old man jump and spill some of his tea on the table, "but you're inexperienced as far as war and strategy go. So why you?"

"My father appointed me, simple as that," Zuko replied trying to keep his cool. "And from now on, you will show respect to General Iroh and me or I will personally roast you alive."

Instead of nodding in fear and keeping his mouth shut, Aden sat back and sent a challenging glare to the shamed prince. "I'd like to see you try, princey."

"Alright!" Iroh shot up from his seat when he saw flames start to scorch the table where his nephew's hands were planted. "No need to get on each other's nerves. It would be wise to pick your battles, Prince Zuko."

"You must have a death wish," Zuko hissed at Aden, ignoring his uncle's warning.

"You are damn skiddily right I have a fucking death wish," Aden responded with a cocky grin.

Before Zuko could thow fireball at Aden's head, Zai shot up from her seat and grabbed ahold of Aden's collar and dragged him out of the war room with Chee falling close behind. When they shut the door behind them, Zuko released a sigh from his mouth and splayed out his hands on the table. Where his hands were, were black scorch marks in the shape of an exploding firework.

A hand rubbed his back in soothing circles. "Pick your battles, nephew."

Zuko looked up to his uncle and was met with a warm, comforting gaze. It reminded him of his mother. "You're right, uncle." Then to Tado and Mea, "We'll wait for the rest to come back to continue the meeting."

They nodded in agreement and Iroh bumbled off to the side to brew more tea. An aroma of flora enveloped the room. Zuko always found the smell of tea comforting. It reminded him of his childhood and when Iroh used to tell him war stories from the siege of Ba Sing Se.

"Uncle you aren't making hallucinogenic tea, are you?" Zuko asked, remembering the tea bags Mea had given him earlier.

"Nephew, you think I'd give you drugs? 'Course not. I would never share that tea with you. You'd have to get your own." After a few moments, Iroh returned to the table with a pot and a couple more tea cups in hand. "Now this is ginseng and fire lily tea. An expensive, rare tea that is hard to get without a butt load of gold." He put the tea cups down and poured the tea, a deep garnet color, into the cups. "Drink up."

Just after Zuko had taken a sip of the tea, was when Aden, Zai and Chee entered the room. They all were silent and looked disgruntled. Especially Chee and Aden who refused to meet each other's gaze. They sat down silently. Aden stared down at the floor, never touching his tea cup throughout the whole meeting while Zai and Chee sat together, pouring something clear like water into their tea cups and drinking it one gulp.

"Hit me again, Dragon," Chee said scooting her and Zai's cup toward Iroh, who promptly poured them another cup of tea. "Thanks." This time, they didn't pour anything into their cups, and drank them slowly.

"Let's begin," Zuko finally said. "Here," he said pointing to a splotch of white on the map, "is where the South pole is." Then sliding a finger to where a figurine of a ship was, "This is where we should be. Now, Zai thinks we will have supposedly only three weeks until we end up at the South Pole. No one can know there is a Fire Nation ship on their borders."

"So, we need to do this covertly?" Tado asked.

"Exactly, we need to find a way to sneak into the town and eventually into the palace," Zuko replied.

"What if we disguise ourselves as servants?" Chee suggested.

"Only one of us could do that," Iroh said.

"Me," Zai and Zuko said in unison.

"What? I'm the prince of the Fire Nation and I am leading this mission. I should be the one to go in."

Zai rolled her eyes. "Yes, oh Agni, yes. The guy with the scar on his face, golden eyes and long hair that makes him look like his father should sneak into the home of the chief to get information."

Zuko scoffed. "What about you? You're Fire Nation just like the rest of us!"

"No, I'm not, I was born in an Earth Kingdom village to two earthbender parents. If anyone could sneak into the Water Tribe disguised as a servant, it's me."

Zuko pinched his nose, a little stunned that she was born in the Earth Kingdom. "Fine," he relented. "But I still have to go with you."

"How?" Zai asked annoyed.

"I was trained in stealth, I could sneak in easily and get the information we need while you could serve as distraction."

"Sounds stupid and reckless," Zai replied. "I'm in."

Zuko smiled slightly. "Now let's get in to the minor details, shall-"

The prince was interrupted when the ship shifted violently to the left. Zuko, his uncle and the soldiers were thrown out of their seats. The tea pot and cups went with them and shattered on the ground. Hot liquid pooled on the ground and drooled towards the wall until the ship righted itself and returned to normal, kinda. It was still tilted, but to where they could get up and move around.

"What the hell was that?" Chee shouted over the loud thumping and crackling from outside.

Zuko looked around the warm room like it would give him the answer, but he couldn't figure it out. He stumbled toward the door to go outside and found chaos. Waves crashed into the ship, flooding the bow with frigid water. The crew of the ship were holding on to the rails like they would be flung off if they didn't. With the wind and pelting raindrops, they were smart to.

Zuko darted up the steps to where a crewmember was steering but was knocked back when the ship tilted further to the side. He flew over the railing and landed hard on the steel floor. He groaned as pain shot from the back of his head to his forehead. Someone was grabbing his hands and pulling him up. His vision was fuzzy, but he saw a flurry of black hair moving frantically in front of him.

"Get the hell up!" Zai's muffled voice exploded in his ears, and he complied even though his body was aching. The world was fuzzy, and it spun like it did when he was hanging over the railing puking his guts out. But as the world finally came into view, he saw another wave crash on to the bow of the ship and the crew that was holding on to the ship with dear life were washed away out into the ocean. Zuko wasn't one to show emotion in front of people but he almost broke down as he heard their cries for help.

He ran to jump off the boat, taking off the heavy armor that would weigh him down in the water. He could save them. He fucking had to.

Zai held him back and when he tried breaking out of her grasp, she held him even tighter. "You can't save them!" she yelled over the commotion.

"Yes, I can! Let me go!"

"Hell no!" she yelled back. "You jump in that water and I'll jump in right after you. I'll drag your ass right up here myself and knock you senseless!"

He looked from her frightful expression to the people drowning in the freezing ocean. "They're already dead! Save the people who are still alive!" she shouted.

She was right, and he decided right then that he hated it when she was right. "Fine," he muttered and her grip loosened on his arm. He ran past her and back on the steps of the ship, leading to the control room. Thankfully nothing knocked him over the railing again. His head was swarmed in pain but he tried ignoring it as best as he could.

His plan was as good as he could think of right now. Find the eye of the storm, sail over and wait until everything was smooth and calm. When he rushed in the control room, the crewmember that was steering the wheel quickly noticed him. He tried to salute the prince but Zuko shoved him out of the way and took control of the steering wheel.

"Go tell Iroh or Tado to get everyone in the belly the ship! We are sailing to the eye!" Zuko shouted to crewmember. He saluted and ran out.

Zuko tried keeping the boat steady as he twisted the steering wheel to the side but he saw people being flung off the boat. He prayed to Agni none of them were his uncle. He craned his neck in all directions but he couldn't find the eye. There was nothing but rain, lightning and violent wind and waves. He started losing hope, he couldn't save his crew. He couldn't save anyone.

The people looked like ants from up here but he could see the soldiers rushing people under the ship. Three people remained on board, watching their surroundings. Idiots, why weren't they going down? Suddenly, a flash of white blinded him. It took a second for the lightning to strike the engine. Zuko shielded his eyes as he was flung out of the control room like a bug someone flicked off their arm. The last thing he saw was a flash of orange and red and then it went black.

 _To be continued._

* * *

 _AN: College is the absolute worst my dudes. Got midterms already, trying to get a job and having to pay loans off. Lmao help me._

 _Chapter 7 is awful so you might be waiting a while._


	7. Chapter 7

_AN: Going back to my upload schedule of updating every two-three weeks. Hopefully, I think. Wish me luck on midterms!_

* * *

Chapter seven

Sokka strirred awake slowly, opening his eyes only to see blurry greens and reds. His tongue dragged against his lips and he tasted salt. Confused, he tried speaking, but as he opened his mouth no sound came out. His head fell back, he could feel the tresses of his hair sticking to his skin. He saw the blue clothing of his sister, being dragged by the shoulders behind him by big green people. Were they men? No, no. They were wearing...makeup?

He was tired, beyond exhausted and he just wanted to sleep. Wherever he was at, it was comfortable, like he was sprawled out on his bed back at the palace. He drifted off to sleep again.

When he woke up the second time, he felt the rough texture of the tree scratching his bare palms and the hard pressure of the ropes pressing against his wrists and torso. He clenched and unclenched his numb hands, but it did little to bring the feeling back to them so he gave up and let them be numb. He was too exhausted and weak to try again. He looked up to the sky but immediately snapped them shut as his eyes strained to process the brightness. The cold nipped at his skin and that's when he felt damp Water Tribe garb he proudly wore and the missing parkas.

He felt the rope tighten and something brush against his hand. Looking over, he saw his sister. She was staring at him worriedly with wide blue eyes and a cut that lined her cheek, lines of dried blood trailed down her cheek and jaw.

"Dammit," Katara cursed under her breath, closing her eyes and hit the stump with the back of her head.

Sokka raised an eyebrow at her but then she snapped her eyes open and stared intensely in front of them. He followed her gaze and almost couldn't believe what he saw. Honestly, if he wasn't so out of it and tired, he would've laughed.

In front of them was a group of girls in war paint that looked more like girls playing dress-up than warriors. They wore dresses with golden sticks in their hands. They stared down the siblings intensely, as if they could actually intimidate him. There was a girl in the front of them staring at him only with her hands crossed across her chest. A sword placed in a sheath was strapped around her hips. Her piercing blue eyes contrasted with thick black lashes, white face paint, and red eye makeup and lipstick.

The girl watched him intently, her short chestnut colored hair blowing in the wind as another girl behind her with thick black braids, stood straight with a dagger grasped in her hand.

"Shut up," Katara growled before he could say anything.

Groggily, he tried holding in his laughter but it came out in breathy sounds. He bobbled his head back and forth as Katara tried to shush him before anything bad could happen.

"Why are you laughing?" the girl with blue eyes said to him. The girl behind her tightened her grip on her dagger and Katara worried that she would lunge for her idiotic brother.

"It's just," he chuckled to himself a couple more times, "What are you wearing?"

The girl, who must be the leader, craned her neck to the other girls who looked at her with faces of equal confusion. Then the girl behind the leader stepped forward. She had striking eyes of amber, like tendrils of yellow fire. She must be Fire Nation descent.

"It's a warriors' uniform," the yellow-eyed girl said.

"Warriors? You're joking? This must be a joke. Alright ladies, skedaddle along and bring us the men who tied me and my sister up."

"There are no men, we tied you up," the blue-eyed girl said.

Sokka smirked and shook his head. "Nope, I'm sorry. You're just a girl playing dress up. Women can't be fighters."

The girl nodded slowly to what he was saying, like she was agreeing. The others behind her looked worried and whispered amongst themselves. A couple were giggling and pointing between the blue-eyed girl and Sokka.

"Sokka," Katara whispered to him, "I would shut up if I were you."

"Calm down, little sister. Let the man handle this," Sokka said smugly.

"I can't believe I'm related to you," Katara said under her breath but Sokka didn't pay much attention to what she was saying.

The girl and he stared intensely at each other for a couple moments. It was like they were both playing a power move, like two tiger-lions fighting be the alpha.

"Cut them down," she said, not breaking eye contact with him the entire time. Someone stepped forward with a knife

The yellow-eyed girl approached the leader and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Suki, what are you doing?" she asked worriedly.

"Just follow my lead, Lian," Suki replied in a low whisper.

Sokka and Suki didn't break eye contact as a girl took her knife and started cutting the ropes away. Four of the other girls came up from behind Suki and stood at her side until Sokka and Katara were free. Katara bent a stream of water out from a barrel nearby and turned the liquid into icicles, ready to throw them at the women. Sokka reached for his boomerang on his back but as padded his back where the holster is, the boomerang was gone.

Katara bent the water out of her clothes swiftly and aimed it at the group of women. Suki jumped on to his sister, hitting her in the face with her elbow, making the gash on her face bleed again, and slamming her against the tree stump. Sokka tried lunging for Suki and throwing her off Katara, but he was held back by the yellow-eyed girl, Lian.

She grabbed him by his collar and held him in a headlock. She was surprisingly strong for a girl.

"Let us go!" Sokka snarled with a strain as Lian held him tightly by the throat.

"You're Water Tribe," Suki responded.

"So?" Katara asked her in a snarky tone.

She paused, looked off to the side and squinting her eyes. "So, you're an enemy to the Earth Kingdom. Like hell I'm letting you go."

"What are you gonna do with us?" Katara asked.

Suki turned around to look at Sokka and then to Lian who was holding him from attacking her. "I'm taking you to the training arena."

"Why?" Sokka asked, tripping over her feet because the two girls were basically dragging him.

"You need to be put in your place," she said to Sokka simply. Suki let go of Katara, and his sister fell down on to her knees. Immediately, two girls swooped down and pulled her up by the elbows and dragging her to the training arena as she screamed and kicked at the ground.

Lian kneed Sokka in the back. He let out a shriek of pain and was pushed down on to his knees. Two of the girls came up behind him and pulled him upright by the elbows, like they did with his sister.

"Let me and my sister go!" he shouted to Suki. She walked forward and stood over him, with a hand on her hip.

"I want him in there now," she says before walking away. The girls holding him nodded at Suki before dragging him across the dirt and towards the arena. The walls were made of mud, leaves and twigs. The four walls were connected together but there was no roof, just the wide, open blue sky staring down at him.

The women pushed Sokka into the arena where the women were gathered around Suki and him. Suki started pulling off her armor, and then unzipped the emerald green warrior garb. Underneath was black undergarments, with pink and tan colored scars all over her arms and stomach. Lian had brought over a golden stick. Suki snapped it open, revealing it to be fan with sharp edges.

Sokka looked over to where Katara was bound at the wrist by some stray rope. She watched them worriedly but looked to be making no escape any time soon.

Before he could react, Suki slashed at his stomach with the fan, missing him by a hair. He jumped back in time, landing hard on his back. "Wait! Wait!" he yelled frantically, holding up his hands.

Suki stopped and raised a brow. "Fight back," she told him.

"No, it's an unfair fight. You have armor and a weapon. I'm just a guy without my boomerang."

She straightened her back and rolled her shoulders. "Hand to hand?"

"Fine."

Suki threw the fan over to Lian, and held up her fists ready to strike. Amused, he smiled.

"You look stupid," Sokka spat, looking her up and down.

"You talk a lot," she responded. "Nervous or just your personality?"

"It's his personality!" Katara shouted to her from behind him.

He resisted the urge to glare at his sister and kept his gaze locked on Suki's. "I'd hate to wreck your pretty face," he flirted.

"Would you hit me already?" she said annoyed.

He took that as his cue. She wasn't paying much attention to her feet so he tried doing a leg sweep but she punched him in the nose as soon as he close. He staggered back, holding his nose as blood dribbled down his chin.

"Oh, OK. I see, I see. Playing dirty," he said. "Well what if I hit you with a whack-a-pow," he growled out. He shouted a battle cry and ran towards her. In the blink of an eye, he was on the floor with her holding him down and her elbow digging into his throat.

He panicked for a moment before he punched her in the stomach. She recoiled and gave him an out. Within seconds, they were in a similar position but with him on top. They glared at each other, Sokka with a cocky grin and Suki with a determined stare. Her knee soared up into his crotch and he immediately let go of her.

His hands went down to cup his groin but her elbow slammed into his jaw. He was off her and groaning in the fetal position on the ground.

A giggle escaped her mouth. "Give up?" she asked playfully.

"Never," he groaned out. He raised himself off the ground and tried getting up but her foot crashed into his ribs and sent him down again.

"How about now?" she asked again.

"Not a chance," he said in a strained voice.

This time, she let him get up and raise his feet in front of him. He staggered a bit but glared her down. She was unmoving like a wall as he tried intimidating her. As he staggered toward her, it didn't take any effort for her to knock him down. He was back on the ground and groaning out the pain when she stood over him.

"You got determination, I like it. But I refuse to fight you anymore."

Sokka looked through squinted eyes at her face. "Scared?" he groaned out.

A laugh escaped her red lips. "Please, I kicked your ass. But I've made my point."

With the motion of her hand, a group of girls scattered around him and picked him up by his wrists and ankles. The pain in his body intensified as he was lifted off the ground but he refused to let Suki hear him in pain. He refused to let her know she won.

"Take him to the healing huts," Suki said.

Sokka doesn't remember being carried off to the healing huts, or the next couple hours. When he does wake up, it was to a familiar face. His sister, with her hands gloved in ethereal blue water, massaging his ribs with her hands and concentrating the water into healing the bruises.

"What are you doing?" he rasped.

"Healing you. Be still," she said. He grunted at the sensations. The healing didn't feel pleasant or unpleasant, it was just an uncomfortable pressure.

He winced at the strange feeling and watched her work. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her forehead was creased. It was like she could see the cells repairing and she was neatly sewing them back up. He'd seen her like this before, when she would drag him with her to her healing lessons. Sokka remembered how concentrated she was during her first lessons.

"Dammit," Katara sighed, letting the water lose its glow.

"What's wrong?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Your ribs are fractured. I haven't worked with bones before," she said letting the water start to fall away from her hands and into a steady stream. She held it up and seemed to play with the liquid as a frustrated look washed over her features.

"Too busy working on your bloodbending?" he rasped which caused him to go into a coughing fit. Sharp pains shot up the sides of his body.

Katara glared at him until he stopped. "Idiot," she mumbled but kept working on the side of her body.

Sokka smirked at her remark and examined his surroundings. The healing huts were different than the ones in the Northern and Southern tribes. First, obviously, there wasn't a large pool of shallow water in the middle of the room. But it was spacious, with shelves that had bottles of strange liquids in them. There were posters of the human bodies, male and female, that detailed every single part of body. He knew about some but some of the parts that were labeled, he didn't even know was in his body. They were mostly muscles names or veins and arteries.

Near the entrance was pale, silvery moonlight that was partially blocked by two figures. One of the figures had deep, rich ebony skin, darker than his or Katara's. Fiery golden eyes peaked out and long black braids hung loose around her head. The other figure had pale, milky skin with blue slanted eyes. He recognized the girl with blue eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Suki.

She smiled and then nodded to Katara. "Making sure you and your little girlfriend here don't run off and tell your Water Tribe buddies where we are."

Sokka almost gagged. "That's my sister," he said in disgust.

"We don't care. Long story short, we don't trust you," the fiery eyed girl said. He realized then that she was Lian. She was almost unrecognizable without her war paint on.

"I told you," Katara said frustrated. "We came here alone, we aren't spies."

Suki laughed. "We aren't idiots." She shrugged her shoulders. "We don't trust the Water Tribes in the slightest."

The room went silent as Katara continued to work on his ribs. They shared a look that said _what are we going to do?_ Sokka gritted his teeth and stared out at the ceiling, imagining it was the wide open midnight sky.

"So, we're your prisoners?" he asked.

"Until I can make sure you're not spies, yes. You're prisoners."

Sokka sighed exasperatedly. "Let's make a deal," he suggested hopefully.

"What deal?" Lian asked.

Sokka bit his lip. He didn't think he would get this far. "I will give you some top-secret knowledge on the Water Tribes if you let us rehabilitate and go when we please."

Katara looked up at him in worry but remained silent. Lian scoffed loudly. "Like Suki said, we aren't idiots."

She turned to leave but was stopped by Suki. Lian looked from Suki's calloused, but delicate hand around her elbow to her face. "Wait," the leader said. "Let's hear him out."

Lian shrugged out of her grasp and left before Suki could convince her further. Suki watched her leave before coming to sit down next to Katara. Sokka smiled, he was terrible at strategizing but he was quick on his feet.

"How do you know what you're about to tell me?" Suki asked, crossing her arms. She was different without the war paint on. Almost like a normal teenage girl, and maybe even a little beautiful.

"Well, let's just say I'm close with the chief." He didn't explain further but waited for her finish biting her lip and staring at him quizzically. Finally, she nodded and waited for him to begin. "Omashu was overthrown a couple of days ago by Prince Taza. They're having trouble getting the citizens to submit to the new rule. Apparently there's a rebel group there."

Suki raised her shoulders. "So?"

"So," he began. "Omashu is an advanced society with skilled earthbenders. If you free the people from the rule, then they'll ally with you. Ergo, you have supporters and can fight against the Water Tribes."

"Good point," she said. "But how can I be sure you're telling the truth?"

"Send a few scouts out and let them come back and tell you what's going on. They'll confirm it." He waited for her to mull this over. He couldn't help the smirk that formed on his lips.

"I'll take your word for it," she said finally.

Sokka raised his eyebrows at her. "Why are you trusting me so quickly?"

"Because," she began, getting up from her seat by Katara and making her way to the doorway out of the hut, "if you're lying, I'll kill you. And you know I will."

With that, she walked out. Katara had her face arranged in a worried expression. Her forehead was creased and her eyebrows were furrowed together.

"You know," Sokka started, "if she wasn't terrifying, she would be really cute."

Katara rubbed her face with her hands in frustration. "Gods Sokka, what have you got us into?" she cried out.

"Relax, little sister, I just saved us."

Her eyes widened, "How?"

"Because, now that she knows about Omashu, she'll be too focused on that while we plan out our journey and relax."

"But you just sold out dad."

He chuckled. "No, well, yes. Kinda. See, after we find the avatar and bring him home, he'll help up take Omashu back."

Katara and him held their gaze for a moment before she broke it. She bent a stream of water to glove her hands and started working on his bruised ribs. He winced at the water that kneaded into his side. They remained silent for a couple more moments with Katara focusing on the bruising of her ribs. The pain did start to alleviate in the area and the only thing left was dull ache.

"What makes you so sure the avatar will side with us?"

"What makes you sure he won't?"

"Well, our grandfather did kill his whole civilization. He might be a little mad about that," Katara replied back. "There," she stated moving her hands away from his chest.

He looked down to perfectly clear skin. "Wow, guess you did have time from practicing freaky blood magic to do what women should be doing: healing."

A small jet of water hit him lightly in the face. "You're awful," Katara stated as he starting wiping the water away from his face. She stalked out of the healing hut before he could retaliate with an awful joke.

After Sokka got dressed and he filed out of the healing hut after his sister, one of Suki's girls was waiting outside. Sokka was a little worried she heard something she wasn't supposed to but if she did, she didn't give it away. She motioned for the siblings to follow as she led them to two tents set up next to each other. Sokka didn't complain or ask questions. He immediately got in one of the tents and snuggled up in the bed roll. It was kinda scratchy to the touch but he didn't care as he closed his eyes and slumbered away.

* * *

Sleep left his body as he woke in the middle of the night by muffled grunts and weapons clashing together. The night was coming to an end by the time he started moving to exit the tent. Yellow sunlight mixed with the deep blue sky. He dumbly searched for his boomerang or battle club until he realized that it was gone. Everything, from their supplies to the weapons, was gone and probably at the bottom of the ocean.

He sighed and decided to just see what the commotion was about. So, he stealthily snuck out of the tent and followed the sounds for grunting and weapons. The sounds bellowed out from the training arena and he groaned at memory of Suki kicking his ass. He reluctantly snuck his way up to the door and peered through the doorway.

Inside was Suki and Lian battling it out with the golden fans they were carrying earlier. They both were wearing similar outfits that looked to be black tight shorts and a tight thick, black band around their chests. Lian's thick braids were pulled back into a low wolf tail by a dark cloth band. Suki kept hers free, some of the strands stuck to the sides of her face with sweat.

Sokka watched them fight from across the room behind the doorway for what seemed like an hour or two. They fought with grace and precision, using each other's weaknesses against the other and utilizing the other's strength to their advantage. They slashed at each other ruthlessly with the golden fans. Lian struck at Suki's stomach, but the girl jumped out of the way in time to miss the fan from cutting the flesh of her belly.

Suki retaliated with a sweep of her leg that sent the girl with fiery eyes down on the ground. She quickly straddled her hips and held the fan down at her throat. They stared at each other intensely, breathing heavily and silent. If Sokka didn't know any better, he would have thought there was something else going on between the two.

He stepped closer to get a better look and tripped over his own two feet. He went falling to the ground and hit his chin hard on the dirt ground. His shriek made them snap their heads over to him, interrupting whatever moment that was between them.

"Are you OK?" Suki asked, helping him up off the ground.

"Yeah-mmhmm, great," he croaked.

Lian watched them from behind with her arms crossed and the fan tucked underneath her elbow. Sokka looked up at Suki who was looking down at the bruise forming on his chin.

"Might want to get your sister to look at that for you," she suggested.

Lian groaned loudly behind them, causing them both to look back at her. She retreated to place the fan on a nearby shelf and then pushed past the two.

Sokka watched Lian leave before he turned around to see a disappointed Suki. "Did I do something?" he asked meekly.

Suki waved a hand in the air and shook her to dismiss his thoughts. "No, it's my fault. Lian and I have…history."

Sokka raised a brow at her but she smiled sweetly and then turned away to place the fan Lian left in its rightful place. There weren't many weapons that were supplied in the training arena. Katanas in sheaths were hung off racks, the sheaths were black with simple detailing. Golden fans hung off hooks that were nailed into the dusty walls.

On one of the walls was the outfits the warriors were wearing. They were hung up neatly with the armor already attached on the garb. Metal headdresses were polished and resting on a table next to the warrior garb. Sokka walked up closely to the garb and fingering the dark green cloth. The material was thin and breathable, not a lot of weight to it. The armor was rough and thick. When he picked up a corner of the armor it weighed down on his hand. The women here had to be strong to fight with weight of the armor.

A delicate scarred finger traced the thread of the garb. "The silk thread in the kimono represents the bravery that flows through our veins," she whispered softly. Sokka peeked over to see Suki gazing up at the kimono with an unreadable expression. "You see this insignia?" she asked rubbing a golden insignia on the sleeve of the kimono. "This represents the honor in the warrior's heart."

Her hand fell away from the kimono and down back to her side. Sokka thought about the Southern Tribe and their warrior's attire. The armor and the war paint they wore were like the warriors on this island but they represent different things.

"That's amazing," he mumbled. He looked down at her to see something dark cast over her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"We lost contact with the other Kyoshi Warriors months ago. I don't know if we are the last ones on the island." Tears welled up in her brilliant blue eyes. Sokka bit his lip wondering if it was too forward to embrace her in comfort. He decided against it and instead gently caress her arm.

She smiled at his effort and wiped a stray tear away from her pale cheek. "That must be terrible," he comforted. He felt he had some idea to lose people that felt like family since he lost his mother in a raid. But a whole group of people? That must have been unimaginably painful for Suki.

"Suki!" a girl shouted breathlessly from over by the doorway. Sokka and Suki looked over to see the girl, who had a shaved head and stark white skin, looking frantic.

"Yes?" Suki said pushing past Sokka to stand before the girl.

"Water Tribe ships are approaching our shores. Looks to be the White Wolves."

* * *

 _AN: Update coming soon, thanks for reading!_


	8. Chapter 8

_AN: Been a while, long ass author's note at the end to catch you up on a couple updates._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 8

"Almost perfect," Lo said. "You're precise and cunning."

The word _a_ _lmost_ sliced the young woman like a knife. Azula bit her tongue to keep herself from correcting the old woman. The form was perfect. The black scorch mark on the wall taunted her. "Fine," she replied, biting the skin on the inside of her cheek. "Again," she commanded, already in the proper position.

Blue lightning shot from her fingers in ribbons of turquoise. It was elegant in form, shooting through the air and only just missing Lo's ear by a hair. The old woman stared in fright at the Fire Nation princess. Azula's cold amber gaze pierced Lo. The young woman was terrifying and calculating, working everyone into her little games.

"How about that?" Azula asked innocently with smoke rising from her fingers.

Lo and Li nodded their heads in unison. "Yes, princess. That was perfect."

Behind the princess, an excited clapping sounded through the arena. Azula turned around to face the overexcited acrobat jumping up and down and cheering the princess on.

"Agni, that was perfect, Azula!" Ty Lee praised.

Mai sat next to her, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her chest and a blank expression on her face. When the princess started to walk over to them, Mai groaned dramatically. "I feel so gross from this damned heat."

"Oh, please Mai, can you stop being complaining for five seconds? You're bringing the whole day down!" Ty Lee cried.

"I'm bringing it down?" Mai responded. "Today is awful. It's too hot out!"

A servant handed the princess a damp towel to wipe the sweat off her body. She scrubbed the towel along the nape of her neck to get the dirt and sweat off her skin. "Don't be such a sour puss just because my brother is away," Azula spat, tired of Mai's moodiness ever since Zuko left.

Mai threw her head and let out a exasperated sigh. Azula thought about saying something else or throwing a fireball at the infuriating girl, but decided against it. Lo and Li didn't stop talking about control and even Uncle Iroh mentioned it to Zuko once or twice, not that he listened.

Azula took several deep breaths as a servant handed her a glass filled with ice cold water. She gladly accepted it and tipped the glass into her mouth and drank the cooling liquid. Droplets of water ran down the side of her mouth, tickling her skin. She looked over to the servant woman, her head bowed and waiting for the princess to hand her the glass when she was done. Rolling her eyes, Azula handed it back. Curtsying, the servant graciously took the glass and retreated away from the princess.

"It's such a beautiful, warm day," Ty Lee says hopeful.

"It's always warm here," Azula replied, stretching out her arms.

"I know, we should go for a walk! Or head to Ember Island for the weekend, or the countryside."

Azula dismissed her plans with a shake of the head. "I don't have time for walks around the continent or stupid vacations on the beach. I have more important things to attend to."

Mai perked up from her stature of gloom and looked up at Azula with a knowing smile. "You mean the Fire Navy Ball tonight?"

Azula rolled her eyes again and made a disgusted face. She dreaded this time of year more than anything. The Fire Navy Ball has been happening since the war started a hundred years ago. Her grandfather had started it as a way to boost morale and give soldiers who were stationed in the Fire Nation a break from their duties for just one night. It had become a national holiday.

"Please," Azula said reaching up to take the pins that held her hair up in a bun. The black tresses fell down and stuck to her skin. "I couldn't wait for it to be over with."

"I don't know, could be fun," Mai replied.

"Please," Azula said with a smirk, almost laughing at the idea of Mai expressing any other emotion but dislike or boredom. "We have been going to this ball since we were infants. When has it ever been fun?"

Ty Lee gave a knowing stare to the noblewoman and nudged her. "Hmm, remember last year, Mai? You and Zuko got drunk off of champagne, and then you guys _left early?"_

Mai tried to hide her face with her hair but the coloring of her cheeks was apparent. "You're being crude," she responded to the acrobat.

Ty Lee giggled. "Come on! How was it?"

"I don't even remember anything from that night, it was a year ago," Mai Lee wasn't letting up though. She turned her whole body to the noblewomag, folding her legs and holding them close to her chest. Mai gave her an annoyed look before she rolled her eyes. "Fine." Mai had nervously fixed her hair and leaned more closely to the acrobat. "Zuko grabbed us Fire Whiskey. We got drunk, we had sex. That was it."

Ty Lee groaned loudly. "No! Tell us the details. Was he gentle? Was he passionate? or was he-"

"Ty Lee!" Azula snapped. Both of them snapped their heads around to look at the princess. "Can we not talk about my brother's conquest?"

Mai glared at the princess. "I'm not a conquest," she spoke.

Azula shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever, the last thing I want to hear is how good my brother is in bed." Ty Lee turned back around and Mai leaned back, clearly angry about being called a conquest.

"Princess?" a voice said from behind Azula. The princess looked back with annoyance clawing at her back at whoever interrupted her and saw a timid looking boy, younger than her by only a few years. He was standing tall with messy brown hair and brown eyes. The princess raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms waiting for him to say something. He shifted his weight back and forth nervously. "The Fire Lord has requested your presence in the War Room. He says the matter is urgent."

Curious as to what her father wants, the princess dismissed the boy. She turned around to her friends, Ty Lee must've over heard what the servant had said because she was sitting next to Mai slumped over with a disappointed look on her face. "I must go, urgent matter with the Fire Lord."

Mai groaned. "Why don't you just call him dad? Or father? Hearing you call your him the Fire Lord is weird."

"Because Mai, he's the Fire Lord before he is a father. You're engaged to my brother, the heir, and you don't think you would have to refer to him as Fire Lord? Well, if he doesn't dismiss you for that nurse." The words rolled off her tongue like poison. Mai glared at the princess, remembering the pretty little nurse in the infirmary that Zuko was always fond of. Mai remembered the rumors going around that they had even shared a kiss and the fury bubbled in her.

"Screw off!" Mai shouted, shooting up from her seat and getting right in the princess's face.

"Awe," the princess cooed. "Poor little Mai, mad because my brother would fuck a lowly nurse from the Earth Kingdom than a noblewoman of the Fire Nation?"

Mai's eyebrow were pulled together and tears welled in her eyes at the thought of Zuko tossing her aside like dirty laundry. She reached inside her sleeves, fiddling with the blades strapped to her arms. She touched one of the hilts and felt cool, rough leather against her fingers. She gripped the hilt and ready to whip it out and dive the knife deep into the princess's neck. Something hit her simultaneously, first the shoulder, parts of her back and then the neck. She fell to the ground in a heap looking up to the cheery, bright acrobat stand over her.

Azula was standing above her with Ty Lee, smirking down at the noblewoman lying powerlessly. She was completely vulnerable to anything the princess could do to her. She watched Azula softly chuckle to herself.

"Well, well. It's not like you can take me in a fight anyway. Thank you, Ty Lee," she said, caressing the girl's arm in gratitude. "I must go now, the Fire Lord is expecting me."

* * *

The ladies-in-waiting dressed Azula in former Fire Nation regalia with armor that protected her torso and shoulder plates that pointed up. Her hair was washed, combed and put up in a bun, held together by the crown meant for the Fire Nation princess. Light makeup with a striking red lip was applied to her face and she was giving spritz of perfume imported from the Earth Kingdom.

She walked tall, with perfect posture and her hands intertwined together behind her back. The walk from her bedchambers to the war room wasn't long but the glorious scenery made it seem long. The royal gardens, filled with flowers and gorgeous shrubbery filled the open space. She had remembered her mother taking her and Zuko on walks around the royal gardens when their days weren't busy. Before she knew it, she came upon the doors to the war room. The guards had bowed and greeted her before opening the double doors in unison.

She walked in, not hesitant or reluctant in the least. She walked in with confidence washed over her and the utmost respect for the Fire Lord. There was a long table with a map of the world. Behind that was a wall of yellow and red fire almost licking the ceiling. The Fire Lords black silhouette was seated and waiting for her to kneel before him.

"Fire Lord Ozai," Azula addressed him. "You called for me."

The princess kneeled before him, her head bowed in respect waiting for him to speak. "I have a task for you," he said simply.

Azula looked up at him, the yellow and red fire seemed to distort his silhouette, making him seem larger than he was. She furrowed her eyebrows. "What kind of task?"

The Fire Lord stood and the princess almost staggered back in response. He stood behind the fire for a moment before walking through the flames, coming out unscathed. He stood over her, trying to intimidate her but she stared up into his amber eyes with admiration.

"We have lost communication with your brother's ship." The Fire Lord began to pace in front of her, as if he was considering his words carefully. The princess remained knelt down and watched him. He was cold and distant in his mannerisms; the way a leader should be.

"Why does this concern me?" she asked curiously. Her heart raced in her chest at the mention of her brother being missing. Did this mean she was next in line for the throne?

"I had a mission for him and now that we have lost communication with the crew, I need you to carry on and complete the mission."

"What was the mission?"

Fire Lord Ozai stopped in his pacing and stood over her, silent and still like a building. "I had received word from a small fleet of soldiers off the coast of the South Pole. The captain reported saying that he saw a jet of blue light shoot into the sky, and the fleet think it's a sign of the avatar returning."

Shock hit Azula's body like a crashing wave. "That's preposterous."

The Fire Lord shot her a look. "You dare doubt me?"

Azula looked up at the Fire Lord, fury piercing through his golden eyes. He glared down at her like she was the mistake of the family. Like she was her brother.

"No, my lord," Azula said, bowing her head.

"I thought so." He began pacing again before stepping towards the map on the table. Azula peered over her shoulder to her father slumped over the map. She rose slowly from her knees and joined her father over by the map.

His finger extended out to where a boat was stranded in the middle of the ocean. "I want you to sail out as soon as possible and find the avatar."

Azula looked over the map, where the Fire Nation was and the South Pole. They were on different sides of the world, two different continents with different views and morals.

She contemplated her father's command like she had a choice in the matter. She had to obey him. If she wanted to be the Fire Lord, she had to follow his words and orders like a good soldier.

"I will sail out in the morning with Mai and Ty Lee," she said.

She had rose from her place on the floor and curtsied before him, the princess turned to leave but he stopped her. "You are not permitted to tell anyone about the intentions of this mission. You are the only one who can know about this. I suspect traitors in our walls."

Azula nodded in agreement. "Yes, my lord."

* * *

The princess had to be rushed back into her bedchambers when she was done with the meeting with the Fire Lord to get ready for the Fire Navy Ball. Her ladies-in-waiting brushed out her hair only to put it back up in a sleek bun and held up by beautiful pins and fake flowers. She was dressed in a scarlet elegant tight-fitting dress that covered her arms and draped down to the floor. Her back was exposed and a slit was cut into the dress that would show her leg. The ladies-in-waiting put her in beautiful but painful heeled shoes. Every time she moved, she could feel the blisters forming on her feet.

The princess watched her friends through their reflections in her mirror. Ty Lee twirled around in her pink chiffon dress and played with her cinnamon colored waves that seemed to swirl around her like water. Her heels clicked softly with her movements and her soft giggles seem to brighten up the room. Mai sat silently in the corner with her ladies-in-waiting brushing out her long, straight locks of hair. They had taken the buns down that always sat neatly on the top of her head and braided the pieces with dark red ribbon and then bundled them back up into buns. She was dressed in a black chiffon flowing dress with wide sleeves. Her chest was partly exposed by a V-neck.

Mai had stayed awkwardly quiet the entire time while her ladies had prepared her for the ball. It wasn't unusual for Mai to act this way while her ladies primed and prodded at her, she had always hated being treated like a doll.

"You look so beautiful, Azula!" Ty Lee exclaimed.

Azula's cheeks tinted a shade of pink and she let out a little smile. "Thank you, Ty Lee." She ran her hands over the rough but beautiful fabric and eyed Mai in the reflection of her mirror. "You look beautiful, Mai," she said.

The noblewoman's eyes perked up and she saw the faint smile that enveloped her face. "Thank you," she said.

For a couple minutes, the girls spent the time finishing up their looks for the night. Light makeup was applied to their faces and sweet-smelling perfume was spritzed onto their neck.

When it was time for the three to leave, they were escorted to the ball by the Fire Lord's personal guards. The walk was brief but Azula had been lost in a trance watching the march of the guards. The muffled sound of orchestra music had brought her back in reality just in time as the guards stopped to open the doors for them.

The entrance was at the top of a grand staircase. When the guards opened the doors, the crowd of people below them had stopped to gaze upon their princess in awe. She had stood perfectly proud upon the steps and let the crowd stir in their amazement of her for a few seconds before she had ascended down the steps gracefully.

At the ground level, a servant girl had swiftly walked by and offered the three a drink of something amber colored and bubbly. The crystalline glasses gleamed in the soft lighting of the ball, they almost resemble diamonds. Azula grabbed a glass and sipped the drink sparingly. The drink was sweet and carbonated and it delighted her taste buds. Ty Lee seemed to like the drink the most as she had left the group to look for more.

Mai was swirling the drink and held it disinterested. She took her time sipping the drink, like she was only drinking it to be polite. Azula raised an eyebrow. "Not your kind of drink?" she asked.

Mai looked at the princess who was gladly sipping the sweet alcohol. "Champagne isn't my thing."

"What's your thing then?" Azula questioned before putting her empty glass on a random servant's tray.

"Fire whiskey on the rocks," she responded.

Azula shrugged and beckoned a servant girl to come over. "I want you to bring over two glasses of the Fire Lord's personal fire whiskey, over ice. And do it quickly," she ordered the terrified looked girl. The servant rushed over to the kitchen and within two minutes, two glasses of dark amber liquid and ice was brought over to the two. Azula took one glass for herself and gave the other to Mai. "Here you go," she said with a smile.

Mai hesitantly grabbed the drink from her hand and raised it slightly. "Cheers," the noblewoman said before tipping her head back and taking a sip. Azula did the same and the alcohol assaulted her mouth rather than pleasantly gliding across her tongue like the champagne. A disgusting aftertaste made her face pinch up and scowl.

Mai was sipping the drink and had seemed to enjoy it. "That's so smooth," she said, marveling at the drink.

"I guess," Azula responded, taking another sip and wondering what the hell was so smooth about whiskey.

Mai tapped her nails on the glass like she was contemplating her next words carefully. She took another gulp of the drink, finishing it off and shivered. "Ugh, that's good." She placed the glass on a random tray and ordered another fire whiskey. She turned back to face Azula and watched the princess finish her own drink.

"So," Mai began, "how'd that meeting go with your father?"

Azula perked up and realized she had never told her friends about the journey they were expected to go on in the morning. Nor has she mentioned the fact that Zuko was lost at sea. She wanted to tell Mai the bad news, but if they were to go on this mission and find the avatar successfully, Mai couldn't be emotional. She needed the noblewoman to focus on what the mission was, not about Zuko.

She took the last sip of whiskey, feeling slightly lightheaded. A servant girl delivered Mai's second glass and Azula placed her empty one on the tray and shooed the girl away.

"The Fire Lord had informed me that I was to set sail for the South Pole in the morning," she said with confidence.

"Oh," Mai said surprised. "I thought Zuko was headed there on some super secret mission."

Azula straightened her back. "Yes, he is." Azula kept her face devoid of emotion and thought about what to say next. "Fire Lord Ozai sent him word to take care of another mission in one of the Earth Kingdom colonies. So he has told me to take care of what is going on in South Pole."

Mai squinted her eyes and took a long sip of the drink. "What mission is he on now? Is he OK?"

The princess rolled her eyes. "I'm not at liberty to discuss, but as far as I know, he's fine." Mai bit her lip and looked like she wanted to say something more but kept her mouth shut. "Anyway, enough about him. I have requested to take you and Ty Lee along with me."

Mai almost spit out her drink but covered her mouth in time. Azula looked down at her in disgust as she wiped her mouth clean with the back of her hand. "Why us?" she asked urgently.

Azula shrugged her shoulders. "We work better as a team, Mai. Plus, I need you guys for support. It's not like you're busy anyway."

Mai scoffed. "Of course I'm busy."

Azula burst out laughing. "You're the daughter of a governor. What could you possibly be busy with? Ordering servants around? Please. The arrangements have already been made for you and Ty Lee and we set sail at dawn."

Mai was clearly offended but Azula didn't seem to care how she felt about the situation. She just wanted for the ball to be over. "You could have asked us before so you wouldn't be uprooting our lives like this."

The princess crossed her arms across her stomach and laughed again. "If I knew you were going to be so sensitive about this, I wouldn't have requested for you to go. Instead of being mad over it, take it as a compliment that I hold you in such high esteem."

Mai scoffed again and instead of responding to the princess, she stomped off and disappeared into the crowd. Azula rolled her eyes at the outburst and walked over to inform Ty Lee of what would be happening in the morning. The acrobat took it better than the gloomy noblewoman, but she was also a little tipsy.

"That's wonderful! Oh, come over here," Ty Lee slurred and grabbed the princess's hand to lead her over to a group of handsome looking boys that seemed excited to see the acrobat until they noticed the princess behind her.

Their smiles had dropped and their bodies went stiff and straight. "Greetings, Princess Azula," one boy had said. The others nodded in welcome. Azula bowed her head back.

"Azula, these are the boys I met." Ty Lee began to introduce the princess to each of the three boys. Mizo was the tallest of the three and seemed the cockiest. He had beautiful coiffed black hair and striking yellow eyes. His skin was pale and his body was built with muscle but he still looked lanky. The second was Imeh, the second tallest of the three and not the most attractive. His skin was as pale as Mizo but his hair was greasy and not as perfectly neat. His clothes seemed to wear him as they were too loose for his skinny body. The third boy was the shortest of the three but still taller than Ty Lee and Azula. His name was Shao, the one who greeted the princess. His head was shaved on the sides and long, loose waves of curly hair were left grown on the top. His eyes were a deep brown shade and long lashes made his eyes seem more intense than they were. He was the most muscular of the three and his skin was deeper than the other two.

"It's nice to meet you," Azula said to the boys.

"You too," Mizo said to the princess and then turned his attention to Ty Lee. "Hey Ty Lee, me and the guys want to show you something. You mind following us out?"

Azula raised her eyebrows at the boys. "Sure!" Ty Lee exclaimed. When Mizo outstretched his hand so that Ty Lee could grab it but Azula pulled Ty Lee back and stood in front of her.

"I don't think that's necessary, boys."

Shao snorted. "We weren't asking you."

Azula smirked. "You must have taken me for a fool if you believe I don't know your intentions with my friend."

Imeh laughed like what she said was the funniest thing he heard. "Not a fool, princess, but maybe a stone-cold bitch." Shao and Mizo broke out into chuckles and slapped their friend on the shoulder. "Now step aside, bitch and let us show your friend a good time."

Ty Lee came up from behind Azula and pushed the princess behind her. "Did you just call her a bitch?" Ty Lee said angrily. The princess stood behind the pink acrobat with wide eyes. Usually she was the one to act out in anger.

"Yeah, and?" Imeh shrugged.

Then, like a cat-mouse in the night, Ty Lee had gotten behind the three and poked them in the lower spine. Suddenly, they were on the floor and started to panic.

"I can't feel my legs!" Mizo shouted.

"Mine either!"

"Me too!"

This seemed to attract the eyes of the people by them. A crowd started to whisper, gasp and point to the princess and her friend. And then, the princess started to hear chuckles among the crowd. Azula covered her mouth with her fingers as a smile broke out on her face.

"Wait," Shao said. "You're _that_ Ty Lee? The one who paralyzes people?"

Ty Lee scoffed. "It's called chi-blocking, asshole! And its only temporary."

"Fuck you," Mizo scorned.

"Fucking bitches," Shao muttered under his breath.

"I'm hurt," Azula said mockingly before grabbing Ty Lee's hand and leading her away from them struggling to gain feeling in their legs.

Ty Lee hung off of Azula as the princess brought her into the kitchen. A couple staff members watched Azula make Ty Lee sit down on a stool before grabbing her a glass of water. "Leave," she ordered the nosy staff. They filed out quickly as Azula grabbed the glass and filled it almost to the brim with cold water from a water pitcher. "Here," she said, handing it over to her friend.

"Guess I drank too much," Ty Lee joked sipping the water.

Azula poured herself a glass and started to drink it as well. She felt a little weird too and started to worry about how sluggish she would be in the morning. "I guess so," Azula answered. "You need to be smarter than that."

Ty Lee nodded in agreement. "I know. Guess I forgot that boys were awful."

Azula leaned against the wall across from the acrobat. "Everyone is awful, not just boys." They stayed like this for a moment, silent and taking slow sips of water before one of them said anything else.

"Thank you," Ty Lee said shyly.

The princess finished off her water. "It was nothing. Thank you," Azula said timidly, she has never sincerely thanked someone before. The acrobat nodded, holding eye contact. The princess walked back over to the water pitcher and placed her glass on the counter. She started to pour the cold liquid into the glass when she heard the stool scoot and soft footsteps come up from behind her. She looked behind her and Ty Lee stood nervously behind her. "Are you OK?" Azula asked.

"Yeah," Ty Lee answered and started biting her lip. Azula's stomach tied into knots and she felt a cold sweat on her back. Suddenly, Ty Lee's hand came snaking up on to her neck and her soft, plush lips crashed into hers in a slow kiss. Azula was shocked for a second that Ty Lee was kissing her.

Her other hand came up behind her back, pulling her closer to the other girl but she was shoved against the counter, making her lean a little bit. The kiss was quickly becoming passionate. Their lips fit together like puzzle pieces.

Azula gripped on to Ty Lee's slender waist and pulled her body close but it was like they couldn't get close enough. The acrobat's tongue snuck into her mouth and tangoed with her tongue. Azula couldn't help the moan that escaped her throat as she was almost lost in the kiss.

Azula pushed Ty Lee off of her in a sudden effort to regain control of herself. She had never felt that before. She played with her lips with her pointer finger, they were tingly and wet from saliva. The acrobat looked hurt at the sudden reaction from the princess.

Ty Lee seemed to retreat into herself and cross her arms over her chest. Her cheeks were tinted a scarlet red and her eyes seemed to well up with tears. "I'm sorry," she said.

Azula was in shock at the sudden twist of events. She could still feel the acrobat's lips intertwining with hers and she couldn't help but miss the feeling. She wanted to say something, anything that would bring the moment back but she could feel the moment slip through her fingertips like water.

Tears started to fall from Ty Lee's face. "I'm so sorry, that was a mistake," she repeated. Azula reached out to grab the acrobat but Ty Lee had flinched and ran out of the kitchen before Azula could do anything.

Silence fell into the kitchen, and her lips were still tingling from the kiss. Her heart ached and her skin felt like it was on fire. Whatever she was feeling, she had never felt like this in her life. Maybe when firebending, but this was completely different. It was like her body was electrified.

* * *

Azula never went to sleep that night. Her mind was restless and her heart took a long time to stop pounding. She tried doing the warm-up exercises she did before training to fall asleep but it didn't seem to work. She just wasn't getting tired. Her stomach felt like it had been through a meat grinder and she dreaded seeing Ty Lee the next morning.

That morning, her ladies were surprised to see that she had drawn her own bath and had already been dressed. She sat down in front of her vanity as one of her ladies began to brush out her hair and put it up in a neat looking bun. She placed the Fire Princess crown into her bun and Azula was prepped and ready to set sail.

She was escorted to a carriage where Mai and Ty Lee were already waiting for her to arrive. Azula's eyes traveled across the acrobat's body. Her heart started pounding again and she could feel her head start to throb. Ty Lee looked back at the princess and her cheeks flushed pink but she smiled and greeted the princess like nothing had happened last night.

"Good morning, Ty Lee, Mai," the princess greeted. Mai just lifted her brows and gave a slight nod. She stared out the window of the carriage longingly, like she would never see the Fire Nation again.

"It's too early for dramatics, Mai. I get it, you don't want to leave, oh well. Suck it up." The noblewoman glared at the princess but turned away from the window and stared at her hands folded in her lap instead. Azula sat next to Mai to avoid anything awkward with Ty Lee but the young acrobat seemed oblivious to it all. It was like she didn't remember anything from last night.

Something twisted in the princess's stomach and she felt her cheeks flush. What was this feeling in her chest? It was a stagnant, mild pain in the center of her chest that made her clutch her hands around the area.

The ride to the dock was slow and painfully quiet. Azula's mind had been racing from thoughts of Ty Lee's lips moving with hers and the mission to find the avatar. She didn't want to disappoint her father and the United Tribe had been gaining in advantage in the war since they took over Omashu. Ba Sing Se was the last remaining independent part of the Earth Kingdom with vital resources and military strength. Whoever got Ba Sing Se would win the war.

Pursing her lips, she thought about a plan, a way to gain intel on the United Tribe. There must be something they have that she could use against them. Her thoughts were interrupted when the carriage abruptly stopped. She looked out the window. A ship was docked and waiting for the crew and the princess to board. A group of ten soldiers were being briefed by some man. His back was to the princess so she couldn't see his face. The door was opened for the three of them and Azula filed out first, then Mai and lastly Ty Lee.

The princess walked over to the man who was briefing the soldiers and saw it was none other than Captain Zhao. She had let him finish his speech about honor and loyalty before saluting the soldiers and dismissing them.

"Princess Azula," he addressed her and bowed respectively.

"Captain Zhao, I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time for your speech. I'm sure it was riveting," Azula mocked subtly.

Captain Zhao chuckled. "No worries, princess. And it's Commander Zhao now."

Azula widened her eyes in surprise. "Hmm, I'm sorry if I seem surprised, _Commander_ Zhao, but I just never thought you would rise up in ranks."

Commander Zhao stopped smiling and gave her an offended look. "Yes, well. Life is surprising."

The princess crossed her arms and looked over to the ship. The soldiers were already being escorted below deck and into their rooms. Mai and Ty Lee had disappeared, probably went below deck.

"I'm surprised I have ten soldiers to accompany me on this mission," she stated. "I remember my brother only had five and they were all volunteers."

The commander chuckled and started walking to the ramp that lead up to the ship. It seemed they were just waiting for the princess to board now.

"Well, these soldiers were not volunteers, they were assigned to you by the Fire Lord's orders." Azula nodded and almost let out a laugh. "By the way, princess. I'm sorry to hear about your brother."

Azula peered up to the commander. It was no secret that most of the Fire Nation had detested her brother and thought of him as weak, including Zhao. He expressed it multiple times to her father and her uncle. She gave him side eye and smirked.

"Thank you, commander," she said simply to end the conversation. She walked away from Zhao and boarded the ship. She stood by the rails and watched as the ship disembarked from port. She had kept eye contact with Commander Zhao until she was no longer in sight.

* * *

"Oh man," Aang groaned. Sleep weighed heavily on his eyelids. He and Appa had been riding for hours on end with very few breaks ever since they had left the South Pole. The bison soared over dark blue water with no sight of land.

The words from the Water Tribe girl had been running through his mind ever since he left. _The north and south haven't been separate for a hundred years._ _How long were you in that iceberg?_

 _My father is going to kill you._

It sent shivers down his spine. He had remembered the Southern Water Tribe as a peaceful and welcoming place. He had remembered the people to have lived in igloos and were humbled. The South Pole was a minneapolis now, with great buildings and structures. What he saw there was nothing like he remembered. He had worried about how long he could have been in that iceberg and how much could have changed about the world. If what that girl, Katara, said was right, he could have been stuck in ice for one hundred years.

His stomach was soaked in anxiety and his head was throbbing in pain thinking about it. He couldn't have been that careless, he couldn't have left his people -the world- for a hundred years. He just couldn't believe it if it even slapped him in the face.

Tears started to fall from his eyes just as he saw land and a stone landmark. A cold sweat coated his back and his mouth hung open. There was home, he realized. He was staring right at the Southern Air Temple.

Determined, he grabbed Appa's reigns and flew down. The large animal seemed to recognize his home too as he sped up in excitement.

They landed smoothly and the avatar hopped down from the head of the bison. It was quiet, dangerously quiet. Granted, he hadn't reached the temple yet. He was hoping that the girl had been playing a cruel joke on him and he would walk in the temple and see his mentor, Monk Gyatso. A kind old man who had treated Aang as a son throughout his life.

His chest clenched when he snapped open his glider and took off in the air. He flew speedily, urgent to see what the Southern Air Temple had come to. He tried to remain optimistic and hope that he would see kids running around and bending air at each other, or smell the cakes Monk Gyatso would bake.

The closer he got to the temple, the more hope he lost. There was no smell of warm cakes or the sounds children laughing. There was nothing but rubble and dust and snow. It was like staring at a parallel universe. The Southern Air Temple used to be so lively and animated. It had been a beautiful place to wake up to in the morning where yellow and orange light would light up the temple and the smells of cakes and flowers filled the air in the spring and summer.

The young avatar had almost broke down crying where he landed, but he sniffled the tears down and decided to keep onward. He climbed stone steps that led to where the main temple had been, the place where the monks had taken him to when they found out he was the avatar. The place where Monk Gyatso had adopted the young boy and treated him as a son. The Southern Air Temple was overwhelming and filled with memories that he could practically taste. All of it seemed like it could have been one long nightmare he couldn't wake up from.

Aang started to walk aimlessly around the temple, comparing it to what it looked like a hundred years ago to presently. Vegetation had already started to reclaim the building. Overgrown vines traveled across broken walls and parts of the now cracked floor where purple and white wildflowers started to grow. The temple today was a shell to what it was.

Aang came across a closed off room that peaked his interest. It was so familiar to him, like he had seen it in a passing dream. He played with the door handle but it seemed to be locked from the inside. He took his staff and summoned a gust of wind to break down the door. Dust flew out of the room and hit him in the face. He coughed several times and waved a hand to clear out the air.

The room was littered with skeletons. Fire Nation regalia had kept the skeletons in place but some skulls or bones had been broken off. Aang's chest tightened, his breath quickened. The Fire Nation had wiped out the Air Nomads.

He really had abandoned his people.

Something took over the avatar, almost like a possession. He was scared of the sudden new power coursing through his veins and making his skin feel like it had been lit on fire. Air whipped around him and his body had started to levitate. He wasn't in control of himself, he screamed for help but no noise came out of his mouth. Instead, he summoned great winds and coursing waves. Freezing water from the ocean below rose up under his command and crashed into the remains of the temple.

Aang was screaming in his head, trying to gain control of his body once again but whatever had possession of him ignored his pleas. A rush of emotions- anger at the Fire Nation for the genocide of his people, mourning for the ones he lost, guilt for abandoning them in their time of need, and panic as he watched himself destroyed the only place he called home.

Trees were uprooted and were whipped to shreds in the winds. What was left of the walls and beautifully crafted ceilings had come crashing down around him. He couldn't stop.

And then, everything went black.

* * *

 _AN: Over the course of the weeks that I have not uploaded or written anything, I have decided to change a few things. The first change is: I'm sick of shitty excuses and I'm sure anyone who is following this story is too so I will be giving you no more. (Right after this one last excuse) Life gets in the way sometimes though, and college will always be my main priority in life so if you haven't seen an upload in a while, I haven't stopped, just busy as fuck. I'm sorry if you're frustrated with me about that, but I'm writing this story for free and because I love ATLA and the characters, and writing. I'm not doing this for money._

 _The following changes are changes I'm making to the story:_

 _1._ **EVERYONE** _in this story will be **over eighteen**. I've been watching a lot of _ Game of Thrones _lately and I have been inspired to write things more adult-friendly. I don't care what I said before about the ages of the characters, that isn't true anymore. (I will remove the note I had made in chapter one that tells you what the characters' ages used to be immediately.)_

 _2\. That being said, the only characters who will stay at their canon ages will be Toph and Aang. They were twelve in the show and will be twelve in the story. Another thing, the age gaps will also be canon. The only time this will not be true is when the character is compared to Toph's and Aang's age. For example, Katara's age in the show is 14/15 and Aang in the show is 12. So they have a two and a half year age gap in the show, but in this story that is not true. They have a much larger age gap since every other character is over 18. So, Zuko and Azula have a two year age gap in the show, they will have a two year age gap in this story, but both characters are going to be over the age of 18. Sorry if that is confusing._

 _3\. This story aboutta be long asf. Sorry._

 _4\. I'm trying to make an account on AO3 and it will probably contain different fanfictions that I probably won't be posting on here. But I will upload this story on to AO3 once I make the account._

 _5\. There will be a lot of characters who will get their own POV chapters, like Jet, Suki, Mai, etc._

 _Now I have other news, I'm actively working on another ATLA fanfiction, and I have a couple crossover ideas, also an original story idea. No hints on the original story except that I might upload it on FictionPress (I'll let ya know). The new ATLA will either be uploaded on here, or AO3 because the main character of this new story will be Suki (remember her? That one strong female character that everyone leaves out of fanart since some of you don't consider her apart of Team Avatar). It's an AU and takes place after the Fire Nation won the war. The Gaangs all there btw. (There's gonna be crack-ship in there as well.)_

 _Now y'all are updated. Thanks to whoever has reviewed, favorited and followed. Shit's splendid so keep it coming._

 _Come back soon!_


	9. Chapter 9

_AN: A chapter being posted in a reasonable time period and not you guys hanging for two months? I'm shocked. Enjoy!  
_

* * *

Chapter Nine

" _Nephew," Iroh said meekly, closing the steel door to Zuko's room as gently as he could._

" _What do you want, Uncle?" Zuko said annoyed, his back to him. Iroh felt the tension that was apparent in the young man's body. He imagined that Zuko probably had his brow furrowed, his eyes closed tightly, his mouth in a hard straight line. He had always had this problem, Iroh realized. The young man always trouble finding inner peace._

" _Uncle," Zuko said again, pulling the old man out of his thoughts. The young prince had peeked over his shoulder slightly, the unscarred side of his face facing towards the old man. "Is everything OK?"_

" _Do you remember what I told you to do if we ever got separated?" Iroh asked._

 _The prince turned his body around to face the old man. "You told me to head toward Ba Sing Se." Zuko's face crinkled in confusion. "Is something wrong?"_

 _Iroh dismissed his worries with a shake of his head. "No, nephew. Blow the candles out and get some sleep."_

"Wake up!"

Zuko's eyes fluttered open, groaning at the bright yellow light that pierced his eyes. A head loomed over him, blocking the bright light. He reached out a shaky hand, thinking it was Iroh. Water splashed on his face and woke him from his trance-like state. He bolted up, breathing heavily. His vision was muddy at first, he blinked a few times and suddenly it was crystal clear again.

"Where's my uncle?" he choked out, going into a coughing fit.

"Are you hurt?" Hands roughly searched his body. It was Zai, he realized. Her face was decorated in dried blood. She had a long deep cut on her cheek and grains of sand stuck to the patches of dried blood.

"I'm fine," Zuko said, grabbing her hands and pushing them away from him. He gave out a final cough, rubbing his chest and struggling to swallow a mouthful of spit, hoping to the dryness in his throat. It didn't. "Where's my uncle?"

Zai strained to get the words out. Inaudible sounds rolled off her tongue and she was shaking her head. "I don't know," she croaked out nervously. His expression hardened, he wanted to scream at her but pains shooting up his legs stopped him.

He winced, grabbing a hold of his legs. He massaged the pains away and hoped for relief. Zai sat next to him unsure what to do. She pointlessly reached over and started rubbing his back in soothing circles. The gesture reminded him of his mother at first, she always did that when he was scared or hurt. What Zai was doing wasn't the same as what his mother did. She rubbed his back rougher than his mother did, and she was moving too fast. Zuko motioned for her to stop. She let her hand fall awkwardly to her side and watched him with concern.

A soft coughing sound took her attention. She peered over her shoulder to where a slumped, defeated looking figure sat. "Aden," Zai called.

Aden didn't move. He looked like a small child having a tantrum. His knees were pulled up to his chest, his head was resting between them. The ocean lapped at his cut up bare feet.

"Aden," Zai called again, this time sounding more desperate, like she was pleading for him to turn around and answer her. He still didn't.

Zuko had to turn away from Zai's desperate attempt to get Aden's attention. He planted his palms flat on the sand and tried getting himself on his feet. Pain shot up his legs and sides, causing him to plop back on to the warm ground. He grimaced at the pain, thinking he might have broken something. But he had broken his hand before during one of his fits that Iroh called his 'flashbacks," where he thought he was reliving the days of the Agni Kai. His body had felt nothing like his hand had back then.

He gave it a moment, massaging his thighs again and feeling the burn of the soreness in his muscles. He let out a soft groan as he started getting up again. Standing tall, he observed what was in front of him. A clear, azure colored sky and sapphire colored ocean stretched for miles, seemingly without end. He would have been totally at peace, relishing in the beauty of it if he wasn't stranded somewhere unknown.

A soft breeze kissed his face, brushing through the long locks of black hair damp with salt water. The air smelled of salt. It coated his cracked lips and his face, making his skin feel slightly sticky to the touch.

He looked behind him, seeing the thick, richly green trees that towered over him. Luscious emerald leaves grew from the branches and shrubbery he had never seen before sprouted from the ground. The bushes were covered in tiny red flowers and what looked like tiny red berries growing underneath the petals in groups. A growl rumbled his stomach.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

Zai looked up at him, her face was washed in panic. Her yellow eyes shone brightly in the sunlight. They looked like amber stones. "After you were thrown overboard, a wave crashed into the ship and washed the rest of us off. Aden found me and we hung on to each other tightly. We found you floating a few feet away from us. You looked dead." Her voice broke in between the sentences. "We swam to you, grabbed you and hoped for the best."

Zuko bit his lip. "Did you see where my uncle went?" Zai squinted her eyes and looked deep in thought for a couple seconds. She met his gaze, shaking her head no. It was like someone took a knife and sliced away the last remaining hope he had. He could feel a pain in his chest, like his heart was physically pounding on his rib cage.

She turned back to face Aden who seemed to be shaking slightly, despite the warm weather. He plopped dramatically onto the sand next to them, staring out into the abyss of brilliant blues.

"This looks familiar," Zuko realized, furrowing his brow and squinting his eyes slightly. Then like a candle lighting in his brain, he knew exactly where they were. "Chameleon Bay!" he shouted, startling the two others.

"Chameleon Bay?" Zai questioned.

Zuko almost jumped in glee but refrained himself. "Yes," he said, suddenly seeing the island stretch out into two seperate pieces of land that curved inward, making the beach seemed hidden. He pointed to a stream partially hidden by some trees. "Chameleon Bay leads to Ba Sing Se," he said in a hushed voice.

"Why does that matter?" Zai asked. The prince started growing annoyed with her questions quickly and wanted to ask her to kindly stop.

"My uncle always told me that if we were ever separated to head to Ba Sing Se." He had already started walking to the channel. He could hear Zai bolting up from where she sat and running to catch up with him.

"Wait!" she yelled, grabbed on to his elbow and turning him around to face her.

"What!" he yelled back.

She crossed her arms. "That's water," she said in a-matter-of-fact tone that he didn't like very much.

"So?"

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We don't have a boat," she responded angrily. "That could expand for miles, or be extremely deep. Plus we don't even know if this is Chameleon Bay, you're just guessing."

Zuko's cheeks flushed in a mix of embarrassment and anger. "It's Chameleon Bay," he said, pointing to the curved pieces of land. "How many note-worthy islands have that?"

Zai's face scrunched up in frustration. "Probably lots of islands. Chameleon Bay isn't the only special island with a hidden beach."

He looked back to the waterway. It looked promising, with the way the sun made the sapphire water glitter like diamonds. The swaying trees above it made the stream look peaceful. He wanted so badly to dash into the water and swim all the way to Ba Sing Se, but he couldn't leave Zai or even Aden. He didn't like Aden that much, especially with the way he had challenged the prince in the war room. But to leave them seemed like a terrible thing to do.

"Fine," Zuko said reluctantly. "What do you suggest we do?" The words fell out his mouth in a strained voice. Zai gave him a small smile, like she was enjoying seeing him submit to her.

She nodded her head over to the forest, with the trees that towered over them and rich green leaves. Zuko followed her gaze, the forest didn't look so enchanting anymore. "We could go in there, maybe there's a village."

It sounded like a solid plan, but the way the forest looked now threw him off. He couldn't tell what looked so different about it but it just seemed darker, like something evil loomed in the greenery.

That was crazy. It was a forest after all. Forests can't be evil. He met her gaze. "Alright," he said with fake reassurance. "We can cut through there and find a village."

Zai let out a relieved sigh. "We should camp out here tonight, I don't think Aden is any shape to travel."

Zuko was about to ask her why, but then he remembered Chee. He didn't talk to her much, except to bark out orders and scold her and the others for playing games. Like his uncle, he didn't know if Chee was alive, or if Tado and Mea were either. They all could be corpses at the bottom of the ocean. The thought didn't sit well with Zuko and he almost threw up. He had never dealt with death before. Maybe when his grandfather died but he hadn't felt grief when he died; in fact, Zuko remembered he was terrified, primarily of his father. His mother's disappearance was the closest he'd come to grieving the dead.

He gave her a tight-lipped smile, she responded in the same way. Then, in an awkward attempt, Zai reached out and touched his arm. She caressed it gently. "How are you?" she asked.

Zuko wanted to shy away from the gesture but remained frozen. "I don't know," he answered honestly. Awkward gesture aside, a range of emotions battled in Zuko's mind. He wanted to freak out, or cry. Most of all, he just wanted to find his uncle, get the avatar and go home. That's all he wanted ever since he had been on that wretched ship, surrounded by a wretched crew of soldiers who didn't know or care what they were doing. "How about you?" he asked back.

Zai's face fell, the hand that was stroking his arm finding its way to her forehead. She massaged the skin like a headache was pounding in her skull. "I'm better than I thought I would be," she said simply. "Come on." She reached out and tugged the hem of his shirt to get him to follow her. "We need to start building a camp for the night."

* * *

Being a firebender came in handy for more things than you think. When the sun sank into the horizon, Zai and Aden got colder with the night. Zuko, on the other hand, stayed a perfect temperature. Making a fire was easier. They didn't have to go through the excruciating process of rubbing sticks together to get a flame. Zuko just pointed a finger at the pile of wood they had made and flames blossomed from his fingertips to the pile. And, when Zai returned with a bunch of twigs and leaves in her arms, she had yelled out that she had found a creek nearby. Zuko had practically jumped up where he sat and dashed into the woods, completing forgetting the eerie feeling he had gotten earlier.

All three of them sat by the fire, with glass cups Zai had found in an abandoned knapsack that Zuko desperately washed four times to get the stains out but it didn't seem like it worked. They had drunk enthusiastically. Zuko had never realized how great water was until now.

Zai was digging through the abandoned knapsack. Her face lit up as she pulled an almost halfway empty bottle of clear liquid out. She held it up to the fire and read the label in childlike glee, "Gin!"

She downed the glass of water and then twisted the top off, taking a swig first and then pouring it into her glass. Zuko watched as Aden showed the first sign of emotion he had all day. He grabbed the bottle from her hands and took long gulps of the liquid. He shuttered and handed the bottle to Zuko.

"Drink," he said, his voice monotoned.

"Why?"

He grinned. "Because we could die tomorrow."

Zuko was hesitant at first but took the bottle. He sniffed it cautiously but he couldn't really smell anything distinct, or at least anything he could describe. He brought the glass bottle up to his lips and poured it in. It tasted like trees and it was very strong, but not unpleasant. He didn't like alcohol, and he had only been drunk twice in his life. But this actually tasted good.

"Slow down, virgin," Aden called out and snatching the bottle away from him. "You drink all the good stuff and I might have to kill you." He took another sip and then passed it to Zai.

"Awe, don't call him a virgin. You might hurt his feelings," Zai said, breaking out into drunken giggles.

Zuko's cheeks flushed. "I'm not a virgin," he responded, feeling very weird that he had to defend himself like that.

The concept of Zuko actually having sex must have been the funniest thing to the two of them. They had doubled over, spilling some of the gin onto the sand and laughing drunkenly.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

Zai snorted and then said, "We are sorry, prince. We shouldn't be laughing." With a couple more laughs, they had silenced themselves and drank quietly.

Aden sighed, looking up at the stars longingly. "There's nothing better," he said quietly.

"Hmm?" Zai moaned.

"Sex," Aden said simply. "There's nothing better than sex."

Zai took a final sip of her drink and threw the glass behind her. "I disagree. There's a lot of things better than sex."

Aden tilted his head to look at Zai. "Name one," he asked.

She stayed quiet for a moment thoughtfully. "Noodles."

"What?" he asked astonished, flipping over to lay on his stomach.

Zai widened her yellow eyes. "What? I'd rather eat noodles than have sex."

Aden chuckled huskily. "If you'd rather eat noodles than have sex, then you haven't had good sex."

Her face changed from shock into something unreadable. Her eyes were hooded and she gave him a small smile. Aden crawled up her legs like a mouse-cat in the night, making Zai's face darken, only for him to steal the bottle of alcohol and return back to where he was on the sand. He took a long gulp while the female soldier bit her lip curiously and watched him for a moment before plopping back on the sand and staring at the sky.

"I don't know if it's because I haven't had good sex," Zai said with a huff. "I think it's because I haven't been in love."

Zuko furrowed his brow. "You don't need to be in love for it to be good." A memory of last year filled his mind. His cheeks flushed.

"So you aren't a virgin!" Aden cheered. He smacked Zuko's arm hard. "How was it?"

Zuko rubbed his arm where Aden had hit it. "I was drunk."

"Even better!" Aden made a gesture for him to keep going.

"I don't remember it all that well," he lied. He had been drunk when he had been with Mai that first time, but he remembered it all too well. It was good, but it wasn't loving. Having sex with her was more like crossing something off a to-do list. She had shown the most of her emotions that night. Her cheeks had been flushed pink, her hair cascaded down her naked body like a black waterfall. She had been a beautiful, black-haired angel but his time with her felt like a chore.

"Ugh," Aden groaned. "What about you, Zai? What was your first time like?"

She was still staring up at the stars, and when Aden asked that, she cracked a smile and her eyes gleamed. "It was nice," she said. "It was with a neighbor boy I had been friends with for a while. He was going off to fight and he didn't want to go off a virgin and then end up dying. I was in the same situation. We helped each other out." She rolled her head and looked at him. "What about you?"

Aden laughed. "Hmm, some girl back at bootcamp when I was sixteen. She was curvy, a badass, absolutely terrifying and she was the same way in the bedroom."

Silence settled in. The three stared up at the sky for a long time, each of them enjoying the feeling alcohol gave to their head. It was like their heads were stuck in the clouds.

"I'm sorry about Chee," Zai mumbled sincerely. Zuko looked over to Aden, laying on the sand with his head resting on his forearm. He had seemed so at peace and happy compared to how he was earlier. But once Zai said that, an emptiness filled his eyes, the smile disappeared from his face and he swallowed a lump in his throat. "And I'm sorry about Iroh."

The wind started to pick up then, sand stuck to their skin. Zuko tried scraping it off his legs but there was no point. The sand coated his skin and his clothes and his hair. He massaged the sand between his fingers, feeling the rough specks on his skin. The three were quiet after that, sharing the alcohol between each other. An hour or so later, Aden had gotten up and had walked off from them. Zuko had watched his back. The moonlight bounced off his black hair and torn clothes.

"Is he OK?" Zuko mumbled to Zai.

She paused. "I don't know," she responded before turning over and falling asleep.

* * *

 _AN: The season 5 trailer of Voltron fucking wrecked me. I can't wait to watch it all in one day and then get left on a cliffhanger for a couple months. It's gonna be so lit._

 _Anyway, I wanted to give you guys a break on mess because I feel like all I do is write messy ass chapters and then leave you on a cliffhanger. So why not give you guys some insight on what's going on with Zuko and the others? I can't promise I'm doing that in the next chapter, I already have an idea on what I'm doing and it's not going to be fluffy._

 _See you next time!_


	10. Chapter 10

_AN: Ooooooweeeeee guys, another update. Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter ten

"I need to get back to Katara," Sokka said behind her. His voice was urgent but it was muffled under the pounding in her chest. Suki played the words over and over again in her ears, re-imagining all the past horrors the White Wolves have caused her home, all the people they took and never returned again. Tears bit her eyes and she clenched her hands so tightly, her fingernails were cutting into the skin of her palm.

A hand slapped on her shoulder, and in a swift motion, she reached over to grab it, pulling them over her shoulder and onto the ground. She straddled their back and held their arm in an unnatural position.

"What the hell? Stop!" A familiar voice shattered through her trance. She shook her head and recognized the loose chocolate wolf's tail and the prickled stubble of a once shaven head. She released his arm, shooting up to stand over him as he scrambled to get out from underneath her.

Sokka rubbed his hurt arm, wincing as he gazed at her in confusion. She met his gaze, and the terror that prickled her skin quickly turned to anger flooding her veins. She felt her cheeks grow hot and a cold sweat on her back as she started piecing everything together.

"You signaled them," she snarled. Her fists clenched at her sides as she started to feel stupid for trusting him and his sister. She should have listened to Lian, she should have listened to her team. But she fell for the notion that maybe not everyone in the Water Tribe was bad. That maybe despite all the terrible things she's experienced in her young life because of the greediness of the Water Tribe, there was some good in them. Something redeemable. She was wrong.

"What?" he responded. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He reached out with his good hand to touch her but she smacked it away. His face flashed with hurt, but the obliviousness he was showing made her stomach turn.

"I don't know how you signaled them to Kyoshi, and I don't care." She fantasized about punching him in the face, breaking his nose and watch the blood ooze from his nostril as he stared up at her in pain and bewilderment, but she didn't have the energy. "Once I've dealt with the White Wolves, you're gone. You and your sister."

She started to dash away, but Sokka stopped her from running away from him. His hand was wrapped around her wrist tightly. His heart pounded, like someone was punching his rib-cage. Beads of sweat coated his tanned skin and his eyes glittered like sapphires. For a moment, she wondered if he was as oblivious as he was making himself out to be. She shook the thought from her head.u

"The next time I see you," she said, wrenching herself from his grasp, "I'm putting you in a coffin."

His face twisted into shock, then hurt, and then something she couldn't read. They held each other's gaze for a moment's longer before she raced off from him. Her eyes stung and she didn't realize she was crying until she busted through the door of her cabin. Her knees had buckled under her and she went soaring down to the floor. Catching herself with her hands, she stayed hunched over on the dusty floor with tears falling from her eyes like rain from the sky.

 _They were back. They were back. They were back. They were back._

Her body was shaking, her nails were digging in to the wood. Splinters pierced the skin under her nails She was stupid for breaking down at a time like this. She didn't have time to break down. She pushed herself to get back up, to grab her fan and join her fellow warriors and defend her home. But the moments of what happened last time when the White Wolves were here glossed over her vision and her body frozen.

Suki perked up when she heard distant sounds coming from outside the window. She silenced herself and peaked over the sill. Ships were docked at the beach built from dark black wood. Silk sails the color of eggshells glimmered in the sun, and the imprint of a snarling wolf moved like water with the wind. She could see people still on the ships, but they were too faraway for her to see if they were other warriors or if they were slaves. People in the cleanest white clothes Suki had ever seen were marching the beaches.

The villagers were clutching each other as White Wolves were knocking down their doors. Things like vases, torn up flowers, and paintings were being thrown out of houses. Muffled cries and shouts of protest seemed to consume the village.

She squinted her eyes and studied the faces of the warriors. They were familiar in the way that was like seeing someone from a distant dream. But the leader was unforgettable for Suki. She recognized him by a scar that was carved into his skin from his collar bone and through the center of his eye like a lightning bolt. His hair was long, most of it was pulled up into one central braid from the roots of his hair, but two slim pieces of hair was left to frame his face.

No, Suki would never forget his face.

A scream pierced through the air. A warrior bleeding from a gash in his forehead emerged from the back of a house in the village with a girl. Her wrists were trapped in his meaty hands as he led her out of the house kicking and screaming and over to their leader. With a swipe of his foot, she was kneeling on the ground with his free hand pushing her head down and her hands being painfully lifted up in an unnatural position. She let out a scream and the man holding her chuckled. Her face was covered in thick black braids, so Suki couldn't identify who she was.

Suki moved to grab her fan, suddenly feeling the adrenaline she thought was gone from her body. She edged out of her cabin and into the trees behind the houses of the villagers. The voices of the White Wolves were still faint, but they were clearer than before.

"We're looking for someone," the leader said in a gurgly, husky voice. The girl cried once more as she was shoved more into the dirt. "You might have heard of him. Bald?" He took a step closer to her. "Tattoos?" Another step. "Thought to be dead?" Step. "Sounding familiar?" He stopped in front of her. "People refer to him as the avatar." He knelt down and grabbed her braids to pull her face up.

She snarled at him, her golden eyes flashing hatred. Suki stopped dead in her steps. She sucked in her breath. They had Lian.

Her face was twisted in pain and a trail of blood oozed out from her busted lips. She swished her mouth and spit a mixture of blood and saliva onto his feet. "Fuck you," she hissed.

The man didn't seem fazed, he looked down at his feet, wiped away the saliva and stood back up.

"Release her," he said.

"Sir-" The man holding her started to say but was interrupted by the leader.

"I said, release her." His voice dropped to a scary tone and it made Suki shudder. The man holding Lian back released her arms. She fell on her face with a grunt. She brought her aching arms up underneath her and pulled herself up.

"In the United Tribe, we heard stories and fables of the great avatar Kyoshi and the warriors she trained to protect the home she created. Our children looked up to you and your fellow fighters." He pulled out a knife from a holster strapped to his side and threw it lazily to her head. It landed with a thud. She looked up at it, seeing the blade was made from metal and the hilt was made from bone.

"Looking at you now, it's pathetic," he spat. "Your leader trained girls, when she should have been training women."

Lian growled in anger and reached for the knife. She got herself to her feet, shaky at first but she stood tall. She stifled a breath.

"I'd like to see you fight, girl."

Suki wanted to shout out to her to not take the bait, but someone came from behind and wrapped their hand around her neck and mouth. Their hand on her neck wrapped tightly and constricted her airways, the hand covering her mouth muffled her struggling cries.

"Shut up, bitch," he rasped in her ear. He released her throat to take the fan from her grip and threw the fan on the ground and then he jerked her away from the scene like a wounded animal. She couldn't find her footing and in a fit of desperation she bit down on his palm. He cried out and blood coated her tongue, but he didn't let her go. Instead he brought her over to a tree and banged her forehead against the tree bark.

Her mouth released his hand, and her vision started to swoon. She groaned as he went for another hit. This time harder, and it didn't take long for her body to go limp and her vision to go black.

* * *

"I don't understand what you're talking about," Katara said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I've never heard of the White- whatever they're called."

Sokka furrowed his brows. He racked his brain trying to remember what the White Wolves were or if his father had ever mentioned something like them, but he couldn't remember. Shouts came from town. Sokka peered over his shoulder but all he could see was the forest behind them. He bit his tongue.

"We need to get out of here," he responded.

"What? Why?" Katara asked urgently. She scrambled out of the sleeping bag and reach to grab for Sokka's shirt as he tried getting out of her tent. "If warriors from the Tribe are here, wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"I don't know, Katara. The way Suki was acting when she told me about them seems like they are bad news, we need to get out of here." He started to throw things into a pack. "Besides," he sighed, "we can't let them discover us anyway. They'll take us back to the South Pole."

Katara fingered the blanket. "Maybe we should go back," she said silently.

Sokka whipped around to look at her. "What? We can't." Her mouth hung open like she wanted to say something but she couldn't get the words out. "Our home is vulnerable since the North backed out, if we find the avatar, we can protect our family," Sokka retorted.

Katara didn't seem pleased with his response. "So what if the North backed out? We have an army that's bigger than the North. We could protect our home and we could take over the North for ourselves!"

Sokka threw the pack down as frustration bubbled in his chest. "You don't get it! If we go back, we're powerless! Dad already locked you up because you went behind his back. Can you imagine what he'll do when you're returned?"

Katara relaxed her shoulders but her hands were still balled up into fists. "Fine, you're right. Maybe I shouldn't go back home." Sokka nodded and returned to packing up, but Katara remained motionless. Her face was pained, like she was trying to keep something inside but it was hard. He watched her for a moment before she sighed and met his gaze. "Maybe I should stay, and you can go back home. You shouldn't have to go through all this for me."

Th silence in the tent grew after that as Sokka mulled over what she said. Her shoulders were slumped over and she was staring at the ground, avoiding his gaze. Sokka moved over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. His gesture made her gasp and look up at him. "You don't get it, Katara. I'm not here just for you." He took a deep sigh, and his hands dropped from her shoulders.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"This is going to sound selfish and, I mean, yes I left home for you and I left home so we can find the avatar and bring him back to protect us but I did this for Yue, too," he said in a rush, scratching the back of his neck. His stature slumped and he dropped the pack and brought his knees up to his chest. "If I bring the avatar back home, I could get Yue back."

Sokka burrowed his face in his arms and was shocked to feel a warm hand touch his shoulder. He looked up, his eyes wet with unshed tears. Katara's face was enveloped in a small smile. Spirits, she looked so much like their mother, he couldn't believe it.

"I'm sorry, Sokka," she said. She started to grab her things and packed them up. "We need to leave before we're discovered."

"Thank you, Katara," he smiled. She returned his gaze and then he shuffled himself out of the tent. He snuck over to his own tent, watching his surroundings as he did, and started to gather his stuff. They needed a boat, food, water, maybe some first aid. Food shouldn't be too hard to find out on sea.

Branches started cracking. Sokka froze in his movements. He placed his things down gently before peaking through the opening of his tent. His eyes frantically searched the woods. He could feel someone watching him but he couldn't see anything. The forest was covered in shadows, but he could hear branches breaking and leaves being shuffled around.

Reflexively, he reached for his boomerang, but remembered it was gone. Probably somewhere at the bottom of the ocean or washed up on a desolate beach. He cursed silently under his breath, and made his way out of the tent.

He moved slowly at first, feeling his heart hammer on his rib cage like someone pounding on a door. His stomach sunk to his knees and sweat beaded on his body. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, making him drunk with the feeling. He made it halfway out from his tent before an arm pulled him back and a knife was against his throat.

* * *

Lian held the knife tightly in her hands. Her legs were like jelly and she was swaying back and forth. The man gave a toothy, wicked grin at her. His teeth were mustard yellow. His eyes were a beautiful azure and his face was painted a harsh, patchy white. The scar on his face was deep and wide.

He remained still, waiting for her to attack. He had no weapon on him that she could see but he was twice her size. He had armor and she was vulnerable.

"Come on, girl. Don't tell me a great Kyoshi warrior is scared."

Lian bared her teeth and released a battle cry. She charged forward, the knife above her head and ready to plunge into his body. The man ran toward her, but Lian didn't stop. She continued on, not really caring if she were to make it out of this fight alive.

The man crashed into her, making her breath hitch in her chest. The knife flew out of her hand and she could hear the cheers of the other warriors. The man threw her over his shoulder and spun around shouting in glory like he had just had a champion kill. He picked her up and threw her down on the dirt like a rag.

She coughed, her head vibrated painfully and for a moment, it was like she was numb. The warriors cried in victory.

"Gentleman, today is glorious day for our tribe!" he shouted and the men cheered back. "Today we conquered the heart of Kyoshi. We take her fruit!" The warriors cheered again, throwing their hands in the air. "All hail the Chieftain!"

They started to chant a name, one she didn't recognize and could barely hear. The noises started to go in and out and fading with her vision. It didn't take long before everything went black.

* * *

"Tivrak," a man said. Tivrak looked up and watched the man bow before him in the candlelight of his tent. A breeze came in with him, making the man shiver. Kyoshi was especially cold this time of year.

"Rise, Tanro," Tivrak said. Tanro did as he was told. "Why have you come to disturb me? Can't you see I'm busy?" He gestured to the battle plans laid out in front of him. It was a map of the world and he marking down areas of the Earth Kingdom that had been conquered and the last few territories that were remaining free. The map was colored in blue or red, and the few territories left, like Ba Sing Se and smaller villages, were colored a bright green.

"Yes, sir," Tanro said. "But the matter is urgent."

Tivrak sighed and gestured for him to continue, "Go on then."

"It seems that our fellow warriors have captured special prisoners that I know the Chieftain would be specially interested in."

Tivrak looked up from his work, suddenly intrigued. "Bring them in." Tanro stepped aside as two burly men came one by one in the tent with the prisoners. Their hands were tied behind their back and their skin as scuffed and their hair was greasy.

"The Chieftain would find this interesting," Tivrak said, leaning back in his chair with a grin sewn into his face. "Close the tent," he said to the leaving warriors. "You're letting the cold air in."

* * *

"Suki."

"Suki. Wake up." Her eyes felt heavy, her body ached and the shaking didn't help either. A little slap on her cheek made her groan and she finally opened her eyes. A bright flickering light stung her eyes, the hard ground scratched her skin.

"Leave me alone," Suki groaned.

Whoever was bothering her didn't give up. A hard slap collided with her cheek, making the girl snap up and reach for the fan strapped to her leg. Confusion hit her when she realized she was touching her bare thigh. She looked down. She was wearing nothing but black undergarment, and so were the other girls around her.

She was locked up in some bamboo cage held together by vines with four guards guarding each corner of the cage.

"What's going on?" she whispered to the one who woke her up.

The girl bit her lip. "We were attacked this morning by the White Wolves."

Suki's eyes widened. The girl reached for a stray cloth one of the others in the cage gave her and handed it to their leader. "Your forehead," the girl whispered, holding out the cloth.

Suki hesitantly grabbed the cloth and dabbed her forehead gently. She grimaced, bringing the cloth back down and looking at it. There were red splotches of blood soaking through the fabric. Staring at it, she started remembering what happened. Someone knocked her out. And then-

"Lian," she realized, snapping her head up. "Is she ok?"

The girl's face twisted in shock and she looked to the others like she was begging for someone else to answer. But the other girls seemed lost and confused as well. Suki was seething as she watched them scramble for answers.

"You don't even know what happened to your fellow warrior?" It was one of the soldiers guarding them. He looked over his shoulder, waiting for them to answer. The girls were silent but a few had the courage to shake their head. He scowled. "You should be ashamed of yourselves."

Suki shot up to her feet. She banged on the bamboo sticks. "Hey!" she shouted. The guards ignored her, which only made Suki more persistent. "Hey!" she said again. One of the guards to her left looked at her.

"Back up," he warned, but his tone was lazy.

Suki rolled her shoulders. "No," she said.

The man looked at her, his eyes moved up and down her body. "Back up, or I'll do it for you."

Suki didn't respond. Instead she smirked, which seemed to just make him angrier but she stood her ground. The man reached for her wrist through the spaces of the cage, violently pulling her to come forward. His grip bruised her wrist but she kept the smirk painted on her face.

"Hey man," the guard to her right said. "It's not worth it. If Tivrak sees you damaging his goods, he'll skin you alive." And then, with a mumble, "Literally."

The man reluctantly released her wrist. "I want to see Tivrak," Suki demanded.

"You're not in the position to make demands here," the guard on the right responded.

"Please," Suki pleaded. She sounded like a small child but at this moment, she didn't care. She needed to see Lian. She needed to know she was OK.

The guard softened, his posture drooped and he peered over his shoulder subtly. "There's nothing I can do," he responded quietly and almost sounding remorseful. "Step back, or I'll move you back," he said, trying to sound tough like the guard on the left, but his voice cracked as he said those words.

Suki wasn't one to back down and do what she was told easily, but right then she did. She took a step back and the guard went back into formation.

She sunk to the ground. Feelings of helplessness and defeat brewed in her stomach. Bile licked at her throat. If she wasn't careful, she could upchuck right there. She couldn't do that, wouldn't allow herself to do that. So she rubbed her stomach from left to right and chewed on the inside of her cheek. A useless way to distract herself.

Hours had passed and soon it was the middle of the night. The moon hung high up in the sky and most of the female warriors had dozed off. Suki was still up. She sat in the middle of the cage, her legs crisscross and her hands folded up in the middle of her lap. She was cracking them nervously.

The White Wolves had set up small tents for the warriors and there was a large tent that must've been luxurious inside. There was candlelight that made the tent glow, but it was dim. She could barely make out the figures inside. But she knew, that leader –Tivrak- was there.

The guards outside the cage she was trapped in had mostly fallen asleep. Except for the guard on her right. He stayed awake, standing for the past few hours since she had been woken up.

"You should sleep," he whispered. Suki looked up in surprise at his concern.

"I'm fine," she responded coldly.

He once again peered over her shoulder. "That bags underneath your eyes says otherwise."

Suki cracked a smile. "I'm sorry," she laughed. "It's hard to sleep with a migraine. You know, someone did bash my head in."

She was surprised to hear him laugh. It wasn't a humorous sound. It was dry and emotionless. She was shocked to hear it and a little angered. "That wasn't a joke," she retorted.

"You're right," the guard said. She could tell he was smiling. "I'm a sucker for sarcasm." Suki didn't know how to respond to that so she stayed silent. A couple minutes passed, and nothing changed. The candles didn't go out from the tent Tivrak was probably in. No one came out either.

"What's your name?" she asked, letting curiosity get the best of her.

"My name doesn't matter."

She bit her lip. The conversation between them died. Suki fiddled with her thumbs as sleep weighed heavily on her shoulders. But she needed to stay awake. She would not be caught off guard again.

An hour had passed. Tivrak eventually came out from the tent. He stretched dramatically and then looked over to the sleeping guards where the captured warriors were.

"What are you doing?" he shouted to the guards in a booming voice.

The three guards that were asleep suddenly awoke. They scrambled to get themselves back up and in formation. Tivrak sauntered over to the cage. The guards flinched, except for the talkative one. He remained cool and content. Suki watched as they all quivered as Tivrak got closer and closer.

"Did you have a good sleep?" he said in mockingly, concerned tone. "Hmm? Should I have ya sleep in? Maybe a blankey and a pillow for your comfort?" Suki covered her mouth with her hand, she couldn't help but crack a smile. "For fuck's sakes, the newbie is taking his job more seriously!"

"Yes sir!" the three responded in unison.

"You," Tivrak said, pointing a finger to Suki. "How long have you been up?"

Suki cracked her knuckles. "All night."

"A captured prisoner would be a better soldier than you twats!" He turned his back, walking to the middle of the camp. People started filing out of the tents, clearly awoken by the commotion. He waited for a few moments, nodding his head. Clearly, he liked what he was seeing.

"Last night, was a victory." The men cheered. The women behind Suki started to awake, but Suki wasn't paying much attention to what was going on behind her. "Not only that, we have two valuable prisoners that our Chieftain would be glad to see. I'm sure he misses them terribly."

A girl was pushed out from his tent. Suki thought it was Lian, but her hair didn't match the warrior. This girl's hair was chocolate waves and her clothes were blue. Someone else got pushed out from the tent. The same chocolate hair and blue garb. Suki sucked in a breath. Katara and Sokka.

"May I introduce, Princess and Prince of the Southern Water Tribe, Katara and Sokka!" Cheers and hoots sounded through the air.

Suki remained frozen on the dirt. The prince and princess. She housed them, gave them food, welcomed them into her home. All for them to turn her home over. Hate burned in her brighter and hotter than it has ever before.

She couldn't stop herself. She just lost control. She flung herself to the bars of the cage. Shaking them to the point the guards around her started threatening to kill her if she continued. The other warriors were silent and still for a moment, but eventually they joined in. Each one of them rattled the cage.

The guards stood back, suddenly they were afraid of the women in the cage. The warriors were unarmed and vulnerable, but the men looked at them like they were wild beasts ready to attack. The poles started coming loose from the ground. The cage was getting destroyed. Soon enough, she was free. She expected for them to attack, but they didn't.

Her and the other warriors stood on guard and so did the White Wolves. Both of them stood their ground, eyeing each other and waiting for one to make a move.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Suki said finally, trying her best to reason with them. "I just want to know if my friend is OK. We can discuss the rest later."

She watched in bewilderment as the White Wolves looked back to Tivrak. He nodded and they stood down. "Who's your friend?" he shouted to her.

Suki took a shaky breath. "Her name is Lian, her hair is black and braided and she has yellow eyes."

Tivrak smiled. "What do you want in exchange?"

"Peace. The Kyoshi warriors want nothing to do with what the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation. We have stayed out of the war for 100 years and we plan to stay like that. You can take all of the Earth Kingdom, for all I care. Just give me Lian and leave my home."

Tivrak's expression was unreadable. His smirk was gone from his face. The White Wolves looked from each other in confusion. Suki was praying to any spirit that would listen. But Tivrak didn't look convinced. He crossed his arms and waited for her to continue.

She scrambled to think of things to say. "You can have the Water Tribe siblings. We will give you no fight when you decide to leave." She didn't look at Sokka or Katara, but she could imagine that they looked betrayed.

Tivrak laughed. "Love, I conquered your home, took everything from your village. You're completely powerless, anything you give, I've already taken."

Thoughts raced through her head. He was right, she had nothing. She was powerless. Their home was gone and any dignity she had left was gone with it. "Fine," Suki responded. "Take me." It got his attention and her heart sank. "Lian would be no help to you. If you take me, instead of her, I could be of better use to you."

Every word she said seemed to intrigue him more and more. "Why are you of so much use to me?"

She bit her tongue nervously. "I'm-I'm the leader. I've been training since I could walk. I know things that Lian doesn't. Whatever she could, I could do better."

Tivrak went silent for a few moments. He clicked his tongue like he was in his serious thought. "This Lian," he started, "where is she?"

A warrior from behind him came up and whispered the answer into his ear. He smirked and then laughed. The other White Wolves warriors backed away.

Tivrak approached Suki confidently, and she didn't know whether she should be frightened or relieved. The guards parted to make room for him. It was unlike her, but she backed up slowly. Tivrak scared her and as he got closer, she could see the deep set scars she had seen before.

"I like your offer. We will leave your island peacefully, if you promise that your warriors will not engage in the war." His eyes wandered over her body and she suddenly felt the need to cover herself up. "If they promise, we won't even mention that we had come here. I'll tell the Chieftain you were a stowaway."

Suki looked behind her, the women looked from each other and reluctantly they agreed to the terms. Even though, Suki had felt the hopelessness in her body increase, she was at peace with the agreement.

"Fine," Suki agreed.

"Lian is in your infirmary. She was badly injured but is improving."

Suki couldn't help the smile on her face. "May I see her, sir?" she pleaded.

Tivrak raised a brow. "No, we don't have time. We leave and set sail for the Southern Water Tribe this morning"

Suki, Sokka and Katara were escorted on to the ship not even an hour later. She wasn't permitted to say goodbye to her to the other warriors or to go back to her cabin and gather her things. Tivrak gave her ratty black clothes that she saw the other prisoners on board wear.

Once they boarded the ship and escorted to their living quarters, Suki and the siblings were unfortunately forced to live together in the same cell. It wasn't a large space but there were three separate beds, which was good enough for her. When Suki crashed down on to the hard bed, a wretched smell of urine and dust wafted in her nose. But after staying up all night and getting her head bashed in, the bed felt like heaven.

"You made a mistake," a feminine voice said.

Suki reluctantly lifted her head from the mattress meeting Katara's gaze. The girl's hair was a curly, frizzy mess and her complexion was covered in dirt. She was running her hands through her locks, attempting to untangle it but failing in the process.

"We should not be down here! Our father will execute all of you when he finds out you treated the heirs like trash," he yelled out but no one seemed to pay attention.

Suki looked from him to the waterbender. "What do you mean?"

Katara closed her eyes, looking as if she was ready to burst out crying. "I know my tribe. We aren't merciful."

Suki narrowed her eyes at her. "Trust me, I know."

A guard had finally responded to Sokka's incessant threats. "Shut up!" the man yelled. Sokka retreated back from the bars. "You stay down here with the rest of the rats." He switched his attention to Suki. "I'm here for her. Tivrak wants you."

She left the bed reluctantly. She just wanted to sleep. The guard waited for her to groggily make her way to the bars where he opened the door cautiously for her, closed it and tied her hands behind her back. She didn't understand the point of this. She was too tired to fight.

He led her up the stairs to the deck where people were scrubbing the deck and the warriors were drinking while Tivrak was at the helm, steering the ship. She was led up to where he was. He watched her movements like she was the most interesting thing in the world. She pretended not to notice this.

"What's your name, girl?" Tivrak asked.

The guard placed her behind him. His hands were still holding her in place. She was thankful for it because if he wasn't holding her up, she would pass out.

"Suki," she mumbled.

"A pretty name," he responded, sounding like he meant it. "Any special meaning?"

Suki chuckled. "It means 'beloved.' Nothing special."

Tivrak chuckled. "Never say that," he responded.

Suki was sick of flattery. "Why am I here?"

Seconds past before he spoke again. "Your friend is dead."

Something in her broke, like thread being snapped. Her body turned to jelly and her legs went numb. There were no tears left inside for her to cry and she was too exhausted to do anything. She was hyperventilating and more importantly, she was powerless. The guard holding her was struggling to pull her up.

"W-Why are you telling me now?" she stammered.

Tivrak turned around, motioning for the guard to release her. "You need to be broken," he said. "You're persistent, and you still have that fight in you that I can't let you have."

He bent down to where they were eye-level with each other. His strikingly blue eyes were beautiful compared to the scars on his skin. "I will take everything you have from you, and I will make you watch as I burn it to the ground."

* * *

 _AN: Damn. I really like writing Suki, Sokka and Azula. Seeing as how I love Sukka and Sokkla, that's probably why. I started writing this chapter during March but because of finals and the end of the semester, I had to take a break. It's summer now but I still have some stuff going on. Updates probably won't take long but you never know. Anyway, I have a couple more fanfiction ideas I want to start doing, including crossovers, Voltron and Legend of Korra. Not sure if I wanna delve into Voltron because the fandom is more toxic than anything I've ever seen. We'll see though. I'm currently editing the first five chapters of a Voltron fanfic. Not sure if I'll publish it._

 _If you guys are interested in following me on social media, find me on my main tumblr: yo-what-the-fuck, and my side/fandom blog: space-dadofficial. Actually, since I get a lot of questions from people in my reviews and since I really can't reply to them, I would appreciate if you guys sent me asks on my side blog so I can better answer them and clear up any confusion._

 _Reviews, favorites and follows are always appreciated guys, thanks for reading!_

 _**Edit: I published this fanfic one year ago four days ago. That's so cool! Thank you for the continued support, there's more to come!_


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter Eleven

When Aang wakes up, he's surrounding by luscious green grass and vibrant emerald leaved trees. He doesn't recognize where he is. He sits up, rubbing his temples to massage the migraine out of his head. Appa groans behind him and nuzzles his cold nose on Aang's shoulder. The avatar turns around and offers the bison a small smile. He pats the sky bison's snout and turns back around.

Monk Gyatso. Spirits, his bones were just left there surrounded by the very ones that killed him. He deserved a proper burial. Out of all the people Aang knew in his short life, Monk Gyatso deserved more respect than that.

But Aang didn't help the situation. His emotions must have triggered the avatar state and he-

He sucks a breath in. Tears well up in his eyes and he hugs his knees to his chest. He destroyed his home. He let his emotions get the best of him. He silently cries into his arms and feels something soft and furry nuzzle his back. He turns around, his face stain with tears, and he sees Appa attempting to wrap his large body around the young boy. The sky bison is trying to hug him, he realizes. He smiles and chuckles, scratching him under the chin just the way the bison likes it.

"I guess we are the last ones, aren't we buddy?" he whispers tearfully, and it only makes him more consumed in sadness. Appa blinks and pulls his body closer to wrap around the young boy.

They stay like this for a while, sitting on the forest floor and Aang holding on to one of the bison's paws and crying into the soft fur. But the day grows hotter and Aang's stomach starts to growl louder and louder as time passes. Even Appa's stomach lets out thunderous groan which makes the young boy laugh a bit.

"Yeah, we probably need to find some food," Aang says, wiping the tears from his cheeks. He let's go of the bison's paw and his eyes search the trees for any hanging fruit. "I wonder if there are any moon peaches here."

He jumps up, swiftly bending an air current to carry him over the bison and into the saddle. His staff is safely held down by some rope tied to the railing of the saddle. He undoes the ties and frees the staff to snap it open. Sunlight bleeds through the red wings and casts a dim shadow on the saddle.

"Stay here," he tells Appa and leaps off the bison. He bends an air current around the wings of the staff, making him fly like a bird through the trees. Wind kisses his skin and ruffles through his clothes. The feeling is freeing and exhilarating. Being able to fly with just the flick of his wrist still amazed him.

Airbending was compelling and graceful, so Aang never understood why he had to learn the other elements. He was the avatar and he was told that being the avatar was a 'great duty that was bestowed on him.' But he didn't care about that. He didn't care about any of it. The other elements didn't made sense to him like airbending does. The element of air was freeing and flexible. Air avoids confrontation and goes through the path of least resistance. The other elements don't flow like air does. Firebending was destructive and the monks used to say that hatred and anger was the root of fire. Before he ran away, he had a friend who was an earthbender but the style was brash and abrasive. Waterbending was similar to airbending because water was adaptable. It's ability to be flexible depending on its environment was the basis of airbending. But that didn't matter to him; he wanted to be an airbender, not the avatar.

The tears come back to sting his eyes and an overwhelming feeling of panic fills his stomach. Aang bites his tongue and a metallic coat spreads across across his taste buds. What if his emotions triggered the avatar state again? What would he destroy next? Was the avatar powerful enough to completely wipe out this forest and everything in it?

The thought made him shudder. He doesn't want to worry so badly but it plagues him like a virus. He gets distracted by his thoughts and almost crashes himself into a tree trunk, but he swerves sideways and bypasses it. He continues to glide with the current of the wind until he spots something red hanging from a tree. His face lights up. Licking his lips, he guides the air around him to surge toward the tree.

He lands effortlessly on a tree branch. He looks up to see shiny, scarlet apples hanging from a branch. He reaches up to grab one and realizes that he has nowhere to put them.

"Eh," he shrugs, stuffing the fruit into his shirt. He throws a couple in until he looks as round as the moon. He chuckles to himself and soars off the tree branch with his glider.

The way back is quicker than he expected and he finds Appa dozed off. Aang lands gracefully, taking the apples out from his shirt and setting most of them in front of Appa to find for when he wakes up. Aang settles down in the grass, leaning his head against the bison. There's three apples left in his shirt and he takes one out to snack on.

The apple is sweet and the juice drips down from his mouth and stains his chin. His skin is sticky from the juice but he doesn't care. The sky is a bright azure blue with sparse, cream colored clouds that accessorize the sky nicely. When he finishes, the sky has become a jumble of various neon colors and the white clouds are cast in gray shadows.

The sun sets and the moons hangs high over him. Light is reflected and casts the world in silver pale light. Stars shine brighter in the soup of black, glimmering like diamonds under the sun. He always wondered exactly what the stars were and how they got there. Aang was told that the stars were your ancestors and they watched over you from the Spirit World.

Now, laying on the grass as the breeze seems to encase his body, he wonders if there is any truth to that. He mulls over this thought, watching the stars twinkle and he eventually drifts off to sleep. Appa cuddles him closer, pawing the young boy until he's cuddled up in the fur of the bison. Safe and warm.

Aang watches this, smiling at the peacefulness that's exhibited on the bison's sleeping face and on his physical body's face. He wishes so badly to be there in the moment and not here. He's only been here once, when Monk Gyatso helped him learn how to meditate. It wasn't a mind-bending experience like he had hoped it would be.

A hand wraps itself around his shoulder, gripping it tightly. The avatar doesn't immediately look up to see who it is yet. The hand radiates a comforting, familiar warmth that he doesn't immediately recognize at first. He sighs at the peaceful feeling that envelopes his stomach.

Finally, he looks up to see who's there with him. He almost jumps out the man's grasp when he sees the yellow and dark orange clothing, the white, groomed beard that begins at the middle of his ears, and the wooden necklace hung over his neck.

"Avatar Aang," the man says in a gravelly voice. "It's good to see you."

Aang pauses before he speaks. It seems like a dream. A vivid, cruel dream and his mind was pulling a trick on him. Monk Gyatso smiles softly, lifting his hand up from its place on his shoulder. The warmth seeps from his body and it's replaced with an emptiness. Aang swallows a gulp in his throat.

"Am I dead?" he croaks.

The old monk shakes his head, but even with the reassurance, the lump still fills his throat and the empty feeling doesn't leave. It gets worse.

"Where are we?" he asks, looking at the forest that's now dressed in black shadows and pale moonlight.

"The Spirit World," he says plainly, like it was so obvious where they were.

"Looks the same as the physical world," Aang says wryly. The monk laughs at his comment. Gyatso's smile was like the sun. It was bright and cheery and Aang starts to feel hatred burn through his heart for the Fire Nation.

He stares at the ground, seething silently when Gyatso steps over to him and places his hand back on the boy's shoulder. A bright light flashes, and Aang doesn't process what happens before he's standing weightlessly on a cloud. He's stumbles out of the monk's grasp, dropping down and crawling over to the edge of the white fluff. Pops of emerald poke through and outline the trees that are partially hidden in the night.

Aang peers above him and his breath is taken away. In the soup of the night sky is the twinkling stars. He's never been closer to the moon and stars than he was right now, and he's never felt smaller in his entire life. Compared to the entirety of the universe surrounding him, he was an ant.

"Wow," he marvels, not tearing his eyes away from the magnificent sight. "How did you do that?"

"Being a spirit comes with some advantages," Gyatso states.

Aang pauses and looks down one more time, taking the view in perspective before turning back around to look at the monk. "Why am I here?" he asks.

The monk waves his hand through the air as the wind begins to pick up and the breeze slips through his fingers. "I wanted to show you the immensity of the universe," he says.

"Why?" Aang asks.

"Do you remember the day before you ran away?" the monk asks with a small, sad grin.

Aang closes his eyes regretfully. "Yes," he says ashamed. "I do."

"Why did you runaway?"

Aang turns his whole body toward the monk. He hugs his knees to his chest and begins, "Because I was scared."

"What were you scared of?"

"I don't want to talk about this," he stammers tearfully.

The monk hovers over the young boy. He bends his knees, squatting next to the avatar and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm not mad at you," he responds.

"How could you not be?" Aang screams out. Tears fall freely from his tear ducts. "I abandoned all of you! I shouldn't have left you alone. I could have saved all of you," he cries, repeating the last sentence over and over in a whisper.

Gyatso lets go of the avatar and crosses his legs in front of him. He lets silence settle between them for a long moment. The only sounds they can hear are the rumble of a nearby storm and the quiet howls of the wind.

Finally, the monk says, "No, you couldn't."

"What are you talking about?" Aang sobs. "I'm the avatar!"

"No, you're not," Gyatso responds, "Not yet."

Aang doesn't protest because he knows his old mentor is right. Instead he says, "How are you so calm?"

Gyatso clears his throat. "I've had a century to meditate, young one, I've entertained every possible outcome. It would have ended the same way."

"How do you know?" Aang asks hopelessly.

"A month after you disappeared was when the raid happened. We were vastly outnumbered and the Fire Nation had far superior weapons at their disposal. Even with every citizen of the Southern Temple fighting the Fire Navy, all it did was slow them down."

Aang shoots up from his spot. "If I had just trained harder, I could have done something to save our nation!"

Gyatso mulls over this, taking his time to wait for Aang to settle down and for him to sit back down. "The avatar may be the bridge between the Spirit World and the physical world, but there are bigger things at play when it comes to fate."

"What do you mean?" he asks in a childlike voice.

"You could blame yourself for all the past transgressions but the fact is that it wouldn't matter if you did anything different. The outcome would have been the same."

Tears continued to flow from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks and dripping off his chin. They disappeared in the fluff of the cloud as Aang seemed to sink further and further within himself.

"Why am I here, Monk Gyatso?"

The old man takes a moment before answering. He rests his hands on his knees and takes a deep breath. "Avatar Aang, you're here because you need to be reminded that the world is bigger than you."

"Obviously," Aang whispers.

"Don't sass me," the monk scolds but there's an amusing smile in his voice. "In a literal sense, you, as a human being, are microscopic compared to the immense universe beyond this planet." He pauses, looking up to the stars and then says, "But as the avatar, you are microscopic and colossal."

"What does that mean?"

The monk pauses to think about his words while Aang stares up at his face. Gyatso was a spirit but he looked so alive right here. He looked so full of life. "Your needs and wants are tiny compared to your duty as the messiah of peace. You are a human being, Aang, but what you are is the avatar."

Aang's shoulders slump and his energy drains from his body. "What if I don't want to be?" he asks timidly.

"I'm sorry," Gyatso says, "but fate has given you a gift and a curse. There isn't much you can do about your destiny, avatar."

When Aang snaps back into his body, his stomach feels like it dropped to his knees and sharp pains shoot through his skin like someone stuck him with pins. Droplets of sweat form on his forehead and he has trouble catching his breath. He writhes in agony for a couple minutes before the pain drains from his body and his stomach begins to settle. He feels cold and sweaty like ice cubes were strapped to his skin.

Turning over on to his side, he holds his stomach and brings his knees closer to his chest. Appa wakes up and cuddles up against him. He pulls the young boy closer into his body until Aang is completely nestled into his fur. Strands of white hair sticks to his skin but he feels warmer snuggled into the bison. He's calmed down somewhat but what the monk said to him rings in his mind repeatedly until the sun dawns the horizon.

* * *

 _AN: Thanks for reading!_

 _As always, f_ _avorite, review and follow and if you have any questions, send them to space-dadofficial over on tumblr._


	12. Chapter 12

AN: hey (check the end for some updates if you'd like)

* * *

Chapter 12

"My head hurts," Aden mumbles, rubbing his forehead with the tips of his fingers.

"That's because you decided to drink an entire bottle until you passed out last night," Zuko growls. Ever since they left the beach, they have followed Zai's plan of wondering the forest to search for a village. A rather stupid, irritating plan.

He wouldn't have gone along with it but every time he wanted to stray away and go his own path, it's like he heard his uncle's voice reminding him that it was a bad idea. Uncle's voice rang through his like an alarm but instead of the blaring noise, it was his annoying metaphors and anecdotes about life.

So, instead of striding away from Zai's incessant need to control and Aden's alcoholism, Zuko stayed and went along with it. It wasn't like they hadn't struck luck a few times. Last night, they came across a tavern. While it smelled like old urine and Zuko saw rats scurry around the floor, the owner had given them loaves of bread to eat free-of-charge. The bread was dry and somewhat hard, it was better than going hungry. As Aden got drunk with the few remaining patrons left, Zai and Zuko decided to ask the owner for directions. He said there wasn't much left around here except for some village a couple miles out. And, of course, it was an United Tribe colony.

Instead of changing direction and coming up with a different strategy, Zai pushed on with the original plan; find the nearest village and get help.

"We should stop," Zuko says, dropping down by a nearby tree and resting his head against the trunk.

"I second that," Aden groans.

"No," Zai responds. "We push on until we see civilization."

Zuko rubs his eyes and ignores what she says. Aden comes over to the tree Zuko's at and plops down beside him. Zai continues walking but she stops when she doesn't hear them following behind her. She looks back and marches over to them. She looks down at Zuko who's rubbing his unscarred eye. "What are you doing?"

"Resting," he replies. Exhaustion weighed on his shoulders and his feet were completely overrun with blisters. Strapped to his hip was a busted canteen the owner of the tavern had given them before they left. He unscrewed the top and generously took a couple sips, enjoying the feeling of cold liquid trickling down his throat. Just as he was getting his fill, the canteen was snatched from his hands.

Zuko watched as Aden drank the rest of the water and then tossed it back to the prince. Then, he plops down, lying flat on his stomach and tucking his face under his arms. He's asleep in the next second.

"Get your lazy asses up!" Zai orders but they don't comply. "I said-"

"We heard you," Zuko says annoyed and sternly. "But I don't care what you said. I'm tired, Aden's hungover and you barking orders at us will do nothing but make me annoyed! You can throw as many temper tantrums you want tonight, but that won't change the fact that I'm not moving from this spot until I wake up tomorrow morning."

Zai looks at him, her eyes roam his facial features until they stop where his scar is. He looks away from her, turning his face in a way to where his maimed eye is hidden by his hair. He focuses his gaze somewhere else and waits until she leaves. When she finally does, she strides away awkwardly to nestle herself a couple feet away from them.

Zuko gulps away the lump in his throat and scoots himself down. He rests his head on the palm of his right-hand while his left-hand drums a beat on his stomach. He looks out across the trees, to where the open sky is stretched out. His eyes trace the constellations for a while, taking breaks in between to gaze at the stars. Uncle told him that the nomads thought the stars were your past ancestors looking down at you from the heavens. Zuko's never believed that before but if it were true, he probably wouldn't like what they thought of him.

Zuko closes his eyes eventually and surprisingly falls asleep. He wakes up repeatedly throughout the night, flashing his eyes open only to readjust his position and instantly fall back to sleep. Hours past with him repeating this process. When daybreak comes, the rising sun peeks through the trees and shines on his eyes. Instead of tossing and turning, he lays flat on his back and decides to just watch the passing clouds.

The sun gets higher and higher in the sky, and his stomach starts to growl louder and louder. He shuffles up to his feet, dusting the dirt and foliage from his clothes, and slaps Aden on the shoulder. The soldier wakes with a jolt and lazily wipes the drool from his chin.

"Fuck off," Aden quips in a drowsy voice. Zuko rolls his eyes and goes over to wake up Zai but she's not there.

He's confused at first and looks around the trees and bushes for any sign of her but there's nothing. Aden lets out a loud, obnoxious yawn and throws an arm around Zuko's next.

"I'm starved," he says.

Zuko's mouth is in a tight line when he looks up to meets Aden's eyes. "Aden," Zuko says, gesturing to the spot Zai had slept at last night.

Aden furrows his brows, pausing to think for a second. Then his eyes widen and he says a simple, "Oh."

"Agni," Zuko groans, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe it's because you yelled at her," Aden responds with a shrug.

"How do you know I yelled at her? You were asleep," Zuko says.

Aden backs up and brings his arm to his side. "How could I sleep with your ass yelling so damn loud? It doesn't matter though, you shouldn't worry about it." Aden turns back around, picking up the canteen and starts to walk off.

"What do you mean?" Zuko says, following behind him.

"I've known Zai for years, princey, and she does this a lot when she needs space," he yawns again, bringing his arms up over his head and stretching out his shoulders.

"So, do nothing?" Zuko responds.

Aden groans dramatically. "Well, not 'nothing,' we continue with our plan and search for a village. Zai will find us eventually when she's ready."

They walk in silence for a couple minutes and Zuko grows more frustrated and confused as the seconds pass. The more time he spends with Zai and Aden, that seems to be the only emotion he feels around them. They're either careless, or controlling, or secretive.

"Where'd you meet her?" Zuko asks curiously, jogging to catch up with Aden.

Aden side-eyes the prince. "We-uh," he stammers, "grew up in the same colony."

Zuko laughs humorlessly. "You're lying," he accuses.

Aden moans exasperatedly, "Let it go. It's not important."

"Why?"

"Because it's not!" Aden shouts. He whips around, forehead crinkled and sweat rolling down his temples. He's looking over Zuko's face before tracing the ripples in the prince's disfigured eye. "We all got pasts we're not proud of, prince."

Zuko quickly looks away, hanging his head low and lets his hair shield his scar. Aden pauses and then clears his throat. "Look," he begins. "The part of my life you're asking me about is a part I don't want to visit again." Zuko looks back up to see the soldier staring at him with pleading eyes. "Drop it, alright?"

Aden waits for the prince to respond. When Zuko nods back reluctantly, the soldier gives him a reassuring nod and turns on his heels to continue walking. He takes one step and a loud snap echo around him. A net comes up around him, capturing Aden and slinging him to the top of a tree. Leaves are shuffled out through the holes of the net as he frantically moves about.

"What the hell is this?" he shouts.

"How should I know?" the prince responds. "Hold on!"

The prince moves around, staring up at the net and searching for a way to get him down. The net is held up by some slung over a thick tree branch. He follows the rope down to see it that's tied to the trunk.

"I'm gonna get you down!" Zuko tells him, jogging over to where the rope it tied.

"Stop moving! Zuko, sto-" A piercing, surprised shriek interrupts him when Zuko steps on a trap and activating a net buried underneath him. He stupidly tries to run out of the way, but is slung up alongside the soldier.

Heart beating harder, he hears laughter coming from Aden. He bolts up angrily. "What are you laughing at?"

Aden looks up with tears streaming down his face and his mouth formed into a wide, open grin. He's laughing but they come out in silent bursts. He calms down enough to speak, "You scream like a girl!" Zuko rolls his eyes as Aden is consumed with laughter again.

The prince falls back into the bed of dead leaves inside the net. He inspects his prison and realizes the net is made of rope. He beams up excitedly. "Aden," Zuko says, silencing the soldier. "The nets are made of rope."

"So?"

Zuko gestures around him like the solution is obvious. "I'm a firebender, idiot. I can break us out."

Aden shrugs, plopping down in the net. His leg slips through a hole and he swings them a bit to rock the net. "Don't bother."

Zuko's face scrunches in confusion. "What?" he says in a sharp voice.

"I said, don't bother."

"No, no. I heard what you said. Why?"

"Because, while you could break us free, you could also fry me alive. If I'm gonna go out, darling, I'd prefer it not being burned alive."

"Fine, I'll break out and get help."

Aden gets up and looks at the prince with a smirk. "Don't bother, your highness. Listen, someone put these traps up and they'll probably to check on them later. They'll cut us down and we'll be let go." He sits back in the bed of leaves.

Zuko sighs, realizing that it would be pointless for him to argue much further. He lays back in the net and closes his eyes. There's a peaceful silence as time passes. Surprisingly, Zuko enjoys being trapped in a net. Despite his hunger pains and his throat getting dryer, it was nice to lay somewhere and just relax. Between leaving the Fire Nation and going on some wild goose chase for the avatar, he's constantly been on edge. Always dealing with his uncle's musings and the soldiers' antics; he just hasn't had a moment to simply breathe.

When night falls, Zuko's almost half asleep. There was a tension in his body that he didn't know he had until it started to slip away. Faint snaps of branches make Zuko bolt up. His eyes search the forest but the trees are shrouded in shadows.

There's a scraping sound above him. Muddled, Zuko looks up to see a glint of a blade slicing away the rope holding the net. He raises a fist and shoots a fireball at whoever is cutting the rope away. The glint is gone and Zuko's smiles at first. But then the net starts to burn away and falls apart. Zuko lets out a scream, waking up Aden. He lands hard on the ground, letting out pained groans as he squirms on the ground.

"I told you to stay put!" Aden yells from above.

Zuko's burned net crashes down from the trees. By the time it reaches the floor, the net is charred embers. They fall around Zuko like black snow.

"I did! Someone was trying to cut me down," he shouts back.

"What the fu-" A scream erupts out of his throat as his net is cut down from the tree branch. He crashes down to the floor and lets out a pained grumble. "Fuck," he curses. "Told you someone would cut us down."

"This isn't exactly what I thought you meant, dick," Zuko groans hoarsely, sitting himself up on his elbows.

A figure drops down from the tree, landing gracefully on their feet. They're holding something in their hands, and Zuko quickly realizes he's holding a loaded bow. The archer points it at his head. Zuko jumps up to firebend but an arrow whizzes in the air and strikes him in the shoulder. Zuko's knocked back to the dirt with a shout.

Blood oozes out from the wound. It soaks his clothes and stains his skin. He looks over to see the end of an arrow poking out of his body. He reaches over to pull it out, but he accidentally jerks and the arrowhead digs into the wound.

"Well, well," the black figure says and steps closer. His voice is smooth and sure and his body language is fluid and nimble. His entire being is radiating arrogance. "I didn't expect to see you again."

Aden narrows his eyes. "What do you want?"

Zuko can't make out what he looks like but he can see the silhouette of his spiky, unruly hair. He waves a slim stiletto blade in his hands carelessly, pointing it at Aden. "I wanna know why you're here."

Zuko bites his tongue and clenches his fist around the dead leaves. The arrow cuts deeper into his arm the more he squirms. Zuko peers over at Aden and for the first time, he looks nervous.

"We got lost," Aden answers, his breath hitching in between his words.

The man is not satisfied with that answer. He takes the stiletto and spins the pointed end at the tip of his finger. A drop of scarlet bubbles at the skin and rubs his blood between his two fingers. In a sudden, swift motion, he stabs the stiletto dangerously close to Aden's thigh. The soldier flinches away.

"You're a terrible liar, Aden. Did you know that?" he laughs.

There's a sharp noise behind Zuko and before he can look, an arm comes around his neck and pulls him back. Something cold and sharp presses into his jawline and cuts a line into his skin. He can barely breathe with the pressure against his windpipe. He wraps his hand around his assailant's arm and tries to pry it away. They're so thin it feels like he's holding a stick. He's almost free from them, but the blade at his jaw is dug deeper into the skin. He let's go.

Aden gets panicky by the second, digging hands into the ground and grasping the soil in palms. A faint drizzle of rain falls from the clouds, dampening his clothes and making his hair stick to his face.

"It's the truth," he croaks.

The guy sucks his teeth and makes a 'tch' sound. "Alright, I believe you. But I can't help but notice that you're missing someone," he says.

His golden eyes widen and his hearts thumbs faster. Aden wants to tell him that it's just them but he can't get the words out. His tongue is numb and he ends saying a string of awkward mumbling.

He taps the blade against his lips and snickers. "No, no. I remember now. Your little girlfriend, Zai."

Aden bites the inside of his bottom lip. "She dipped a long time ago. You know how she is."

"There's those lies again," he says. "Lying has never been your strong suit." He turns his attention to Zuko. His features are somewhat highlighted in the moonlight. He's young, but his deep brown eyes are sunken in with shadows. It could just be the way the light shines on his face, but he looks exhausted. His eyebrows are arched high and slim.

"We're not animals, Smellerbee. Remove that arrow," he orders.

The arrow is ripped out roughly and blood gushes out of his shoulder. He yelps and reaches over to cover his wound. Scarlet coats his fingers and drips down from his hand. Through clenched teeth, his breaths coming out quick and short.

The blade glints in the moonlight as he points it at the prince. "Who's your friend?"

"He's nobody," Aden says quickly.

"Doubt it," he says, nodding his head towards Zuko. "What's your name, Scar Face?"

Zuko looks at Aden before he answers but the soldier avoids him. "Lee," Zuko stammers. "My name's Lee."

"A firebender, eh? Never thought you'd be rolling with firebenders," he says, turning to Aden.

"I'm full of surprises," Aden responds.

The guy chuckles, standing up and gestures to the person holding back Zuko and the one with the bow. "Guess so. I'm Jet and these are my Freedom Fighters."

"Freedom fighters?" Zuko asks, looking at Aden from the corner of his eye. "Like, rebel fighters?"

"Exactly. Wow, Aden how'd you end up with someone so smart?" Jet remarks.

Zuko narrows his eyes at Aden who averts his gaze from the prince. He opens his mouth to say something but suddenly he's pulled up roughly from the ground. The person behind him, Smellerbee, holds his arms back and keeps the blade resting against his throat. The archer comes up to Aden and pulls him up. He pulls an arrow from his quiver and pricks the sharp end at his neck.

Jet waits patiently with his arms crossed around his mid-section. Smellerbee and the archer push them toward their leader. His brown eyes look them over, and he especially eyes Zuko's scar. Instead of looking away, Zuko holds his gaze. Jet does something Zuko's never seen when people lock eyes with his scar. He smirks.

Zuko's taken aback at first. No one's ever reacted to his scar like that. He's used to staring intently at it when he wasn't looking, and then when he was they would immediately cast their eyes somewhere else. Or to act incredibly uncomfortable around him, either in pity or fear. He's never seen someone smile at it.

"Guess you're coming back to camp, Aden."

* * *

Their camp is a two-mile walk. Smellerbee and the archer push them along the trail with Jet leading them. No one speaks the whole time but Zuko keeps his eye on Jet's back.

Dual hook swords are strapped to his hips. He wears shoulder and breastplate armor with a simple black long-sleeved tunic tucked in the waist band of similar colored pants with leather boots. His dagger is strapped in a holster between his shoulder blades.

If Zuko could just get free, if this chick didn't have a blade ready to slice his neck, he could blast some fire at them, get that dagger and get him and Aden out. He looks over at the archer holding Aden. There's a straw hat that's tied under his chin that covers half his face. His lips are small and they rest in an expressionless line. He's dressed in deep blue clothes and a red cloak. His bow is hung over his shoulders and his quiver is filled with a handful of arrows.

Smellerbee is pressed up against Zuko's back, holding his wrists tightly behind his back and pointing the blade into his skin. She's already drawn blood. Not a lot, just a small trickle but as it trails down his collarbone, he can't help but feel his temper rise.

Worried about raising his body temperature, he tries to take deep and calming breaths. He envisions what his uncle would tell him at this moment but nothing comes to mind. For some reason, that makes him more frustrated.

"Alright," Jet says. The archer and Smellerbee stop and the two stumbles before catching their footing.

"We should bind them," a feminine voice says behind Zuko. Smellerbee. Her voice is high-pitched and raspy. She sounds incredibly young; too young to be holding a knife at his throat.

"There's no point. The firebender will just burn through it."

"So, would it make a difference? He could burn my hand right now," Smellerbee responds.

"I said, no," Jet says, looking back with his hands on his hips. "Pipsqueak brought and The Duke brought back some chains from a raid. We get to camp, we tie him up, and then we figure it out."

"I don't understand why we need to figure something out. He's a firebender. Aden's a traitor. We should just kill them right now."

Jet pauses, tapping his finger on his hip. "You don't understand, 'Bee. We need them."

She doesn't say anything. Instead, she squeezes Zuko's wrists a couple times and pushes him forward. Jet and the archer follow suit. They walk for a couple more feet until they reach a part of the forest that's heavily filled with trees and shrubbery. Smellerbee lets go of his hands, but presses her blade harder against his throat.

"Don't do anything funny," she hisses. Zuko side-eyes her and sees shaggy brown hair and markings on her cheek.

He looks away, watching Jet cup his hands around his mouth. He lets out a bird noise three times. For a second, there's stillness. Then a rustle in the trees and a ladder comes down.

"You," Jet says, pointing to Aden. "You're first."

Jet unhooks his swords, readying them in case the soldier pulls something. The archer pushes him away and immediately pulls his bow over his head and strings an arrow in it. Aden looks behind him to see him aiming it at his back. As he climbs up the ladder, Jet lets out a different sound.

"Alright, fire boy. Move," Jet orders. Smellerbee lowers her knife from his neck and pushes him roughly toward the ladder.

He considers fighting back for a moment, but he could practically feel the target the archer has on his back. Instead, he hurdles up the ladder. Once he's halfway up, Jet lets out that same call he did when Aden was climbing the ladder. Zuko pauses and is hesitant to find out what it means.

He takes a couple more steps up the ladder and the camp starts to come in view. There's treehouses, clotheslines- but there's no people. He looks down to see the tiny figures of Jet, Smellerbee and the archer. It's hard to see at first but he can tell the bow is still aimed for his back.

There's nothing he can to get himself out of this situation. If he can still somehow find a way off this ladder without an arrow in his back, he would abandon Aden. The soldier wasn't his favourite person in the world, but leaving him behind was unthinkable. Especially here, where he seems to have bad history.

A nervous ball forms in his stomach and it's almost hard to breathe. He pushes through it, and continues to climb his way to the top. He hoists himself up and almost immediately people swarm him. Large hands warp around him, pulling him up from wooden flooring and tossing him over his shoulder.

The man is carrying him over to a treehouse. He needs to get out of here, but he doesn't see a way out of here. He can't firebend. If he did, he could cause a wildfire. It was useless to fight back but he struggled and kicked in the guy's hold.

The man bent over to walk through the doorway of the treehouse. Zuko quickly realized this was a makeshift prison. Chains were bolted to the walls and mats were laid on the floor. The man carrying him practically threw him off his shoulder.

The prince lost his breath and the large man didn't notice it. Instead, he dragged Zuko over to handcuffs that were attached to chains. Once his wrists were trapped in the handcuffs, the man awkwardly shuffled out of the treehouse.

Zuko regained his breath, but his head throbbed. He peered around and found Aden sitting beside him. The soldier's wrists and ankles were bound by the cuffs. Aden looked down at Zuko, raising his eyebrows a bit and smirking.

"Nice of you to join me," he said.

Zuko groans, pushing himself into a sitting position and sitting next to the soldier. Once the door to the makeshift, wooden prison is shut, Zuko rolls his head over to Aden. "How are we getting out of here?"

"Getting out?" he questions, looking over at Zuko.

'Obviously. We can't stay here." The soldier shakes his head. Zuko's jaw hangs open and he narrows his eyes. "I can't believe you," he murmurs.

"What can't you believe?" Aden responds.

Zuko shakes his head before answering. "I can't believe you're going to sit here and not find a way out. You give up too easily."

Aden shifts his body over to face the prince. "I give up easily? Get your head out of you royal, spoiled ass, Zuko, and look around you." He waves his hands around and gestures at the prison. "In case you haven't noticed, we are literally in a wooden box! What are you gonna do? Use your magic fire to get us out, even though we are chained by our limbs?"

Zuko crosses his arms. Aden's voice is sharp and tense. His words remind him of his uncle scolding him for not thinking anything though. He huffs. "I can't stay here. I need to find my uncle."

Aden sighs tiredly. "I know," he says softly.

For a few minutes, they sit silently. The only sounds are the muffled laughter outside the treehouse. Zuko leans his head back, knocking it against the wall a couple times.

"Are you gonna tell me how you know these people?" the prince asks.

Aden whips his head around to look over at Zuko. His face flushes and he ruffles a hand through his hair. "It's a long story."

Zuko looks down at the chains that bind them. "I think we got time."

Bringing his knees closer to his chest, Aden lets out a long exhale. He buries his chin in his kneecaps and he stares out into space for a moment. "Jet saved my ass in a bar fight."

"What?"

Aden groans silently. "I wasn't drinking, the owner gave me a job. But-" He clears his throat and his voice comes out hoarsely. "Before that, I got into some trouble and I borrowed some money from this really sketchy guy. But I couldn't pay him back, so I ditched. I changed my name and basically left behind my entire life."

Zuko swallowed the lump in his throat. "A year after I had gotten back on my feet and got a job and got a place to live. That same guy walked in the tavern I was working at." Aden bites his lip. "He pulled a knife on me, and Jet saved me."

"What happened after?"

Aden shakes his head. "I couldn't go back to my life. Jet invited me to join his rebel group. I changed my name, again, and let my hair grew out as long as I could."

"Is 'Aden' your real name?" Zuko asks in a small voice.

The soldier laughs humorlessly. "Of course not."

"What is it?"

Aden stretches out his legs and folds his hands in his lap. "Akira," he says with a sigh. "But I like 'Aden.' He's a better person than Akira was."

Zuko opens his mouth to ask him more questions but the door opens. Jet stands in the doorway. He's dressed more casually but his hook swords are still strapped to his hips. Dark yellow light peaks in the open doorway, and Zuko can see the setting sun behind him. Jet closes the door behind him and sits in front of him. He unhooks his sword from his hip and casually lays in on his lap. Leaning back, his eyes sweep the room until they land on Zuko.

"What am I gonna do with you, fire boy?"

* * *

AN: So. It's a while. Lemme give you short story for why I have been gone for four months: finished my first year of college, failed two classes, went through my entire summer break looking for a new beta reader since mine just disappeared, find one, ghosted them (I'm so sorry btw), lost inspiration, started a new original WIP, got into Voltron and then My Hero Academia, and Tokyo Ghoul, had some personal shit come up, then found other ships to like, and then started four WIPs, and now here I am. I have no betas, I started a fandom account (spooky-elvenxadia sis hit me up) and have felt more confident in my writing ability.

Will I get a new beta for my fanfics? Probably not. Will I go on another hiatus? Obvi. Will I finish this? I told y'all I would.

I don't think I'm gonna upload any more fics on here anymore after this one is completed. You can find me on AO3 (EmilyHendrick) where I'm gonna be posting some one-shots and a multi-chapter for BNHA.

For questions, comments, or concerns: leave a review, send me a pm, or hit me up on tumblr (again spooky-elvenxadia sis hit me up). Thank you for reading! I'll see you next time.


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